A matter of choice

Questions and answers

2012-02-12T14:04:00.000+02:00

One thing I love about reading other blogs and being part of the 'blog world' is the that just when you are wondering what to blog about someone handily hands you a blog post on a plate, as Multiple Mummy had tagged me in 'Questions and Answers' She has written 11 questions for me to answer and then challenged me to do the same for others.

1. Apartfrom your children what is your greatest accomplishment?

Oh, Ihate this question! I guess moving to a new country and making a newcircle of friends and feeling like I am at home is quite an accomplishment.

2. Whatis your favourite beverage?

Cocktails, containing any orall the the following...... mailbu, vodka, barcadi, fruit juice, grenadine. Or right now Mcdonalds Milkshakes!

3. Why doyou blog?

Because Ilove it! I didn't imagine I'd still be going over 2 years on when I firststarted and I certainly didn't think it would be so rewarding, enjoyable....and addictive, maybe the reason I blog is just because I can't stop!

4. If apregnancy scan said twins tomorrow , what would be your initial thoughts?

OH MYGOD.......I would laugh as I usually do in inappropriate situations,then I would probably pass out with shock...... I have my 12 week scan onWednesday and hopefully this is not going to happen!

5. Whatis the hardest part of parenting to your mind?

Beingpatient!

6. Whatis your secret parenting weapon?

Bribery,and living upstairs from the Grandparents!

7. Whatis your idea of blissful ‘me’ time?

Listeningto music without being moaned at to turn it off, having a meal and a few drinkswith friends and being able to finish an entire conversation.

8. Who doyou think has the best job. The Mummy or the Daddy?

Definitely theMummy, Daddy can often appear to be the better job as they get to leave thehouse, have adult conversation and stop at the pub on the way home much moreeasily but given the choice I know which one I'd rather be doing (even if I domoan about it sometimes!)

9. Whatthing would you recommend people do before children if they get the chance?

Go out alot, dance until your feet hurt, stay up drinking until the sun comes up andsleep.... a lot!

10. Whatare you hopes for this year?

I hopethat Aaron finds work very soon and we can get on with living as opposed to surviving. Also that I havea pleasant, easy pregnancyand birth and that Leo takes to being a big brother well.

11.Describe yourself in 5 words?

Impatient,nosy, restless, friendly, frustrated.

The Rules:

You must post these rules.
Each person must post 11 things about herself on their blog.
Answer the questions the “tagger” listed for you in her post, and create 11 new questions for the people you tag to answer.
Choose 11 people to tag and link to them in the post.
Let each blogger know that you have tagged them.

I tag, and also recommend you pop over for a read when you have 5 minutes...

Love, Life & Babies Mummy Mishaps

The Boy and Me Real Housewife of Suffolk County

Stay at Home Mum Loving it. New Mum Online

Here Come the Girls Romanian Mum

The Crazy Kitchen Seasider in the City

Mum of 3 Boys

My questions to them....

Would you like to live in a different country? Why would / wouldn't you?

Are you doing what you thought you would be at this age when you were a teenager?

What is your biggest addiction, and does it worry you?

Do you speak a foreign language? Would you like to?

What is your favourite holiday destination? (either past or a 'dream destination)

What most annoys you?

What is your dream job?

What are you looking forward to this year?

How upset would you be if you woke up tomorrow morning and the internet had ceased to exist?

What day / period of your life would you like to re-live?

If you could travel in time (you know, without buggering up the space/time continuum thing) would you go forward or backwards?

Project 52 - Waiting

2012-02-12T06:30:00.000+02:00

Waiting for someone to play with... no matter how hard I try we always seem to be the first ones there!

Second baby essentials

2012-02-11T15:08:00.002+02:00

I think there's a huge difference in shopping for your 2nd baby compared to your first, first time round everyone gives you advice but you smile and nod and then go ahead and ignore them all. Moses basket - yep need that, hugely expensive impractical pushchair/travel system, yep get one of those. Nappy disposal system..... need I say more!

Although on the other hand you might find you had to economise a lot on your first so 2nd time round you might decide to splash out the things you couldn't afford first time, especially if you have kept some things from the first - a good idea in theory if you didn't sell your cot the weekend before you fell pregnant!

As we are in no position to be splashing out on anything if we can possibly help it I've been giving some thought to what we need, I know it's early but I figure if we start looking we can find as much as possible 2nd hand. I'm not into superstition - if anything goes wrong it will not be because we brought a cot, what will be will be.

My list so far....

Cot / pushchair / Car seat - Probably the most important. Got the best bargains ever the other week though so that's the most important things off the list.

We could just resort to baby in a suitcase again!

Sling/ carrier - Although we never used one with Leo, I'd love to try one with the new baby. Now Leo is out of the buggy I think it will be useful, especially as so many paths are not pushchair friendly here! They just concern me as I am prone to backache and if this baby is as big as Leo was I'm not sure it will be worth the money.

Nappies - After reading a few reviews I'm actually considering getting re-usable nappies this time round. Disposable's are really expensive here in Cyprus and at least in summer cloth ones would dry quickly.

Steriliser / bottles - I loved my Tommee Tippee ones last time round so unless I find some huge bargains I'll be going for these again methinks.

Cot bedding - I'm not fussed about all he matching stuff and I really don't see the point of cot bumpers so just going to need some sheets. I used gro-bags for Leo which were brilliant. I've still got 2 blankets from Leo - about the only thing I kept!

Baby bouncer - I wish I'd kept Leo's as it was lovely and we used it so much. It only cost me £10 brand new, it was from the Baby Show though and I have no idea which company it was from! So I'll be looking out on the second hand sites.

Changing bag - I won one of these recently thanks to 'Mummy from the Heart' Michelle so that's another item of the list!

Clothes - although this baby is going to be born in August, in Cyprus so I don't think it will be wearing a lot! I'm thinking vests, babygrows, although I'm sure I'm going to be having some arguments with the nurses in the hospital who insist on wrapping up babies like they are going to freeze. ( I was once told off as I was going to carry a 14 month old Leo from the hospital to the car, which was just outside in just a vest without a blanket wrapped round him.... it was 40 odd degrees at the time!!!!)

I've been racking my brain, but I can't think of much else, other than random toiletries and muslin cloths!

I'd love to hear your recommendations on what products you have tried, especially in regards to nappies and slings. Have I forgotten anything important off the list? What were your essential items or your worst buys?

Life is a Journey - Teenage Crushes

2012-02-09T19:41:00.000+02:00

In the continuing 'Life is a Journey' Series this weeks prompt is Teenage Crushes.

I had two main crushes as a teenager my first was as a young teenager and I covered my walls in posters of my man of the moment.

I liked him as Scott in neighbours (I thought the wedding of Scott and Charlene was the most exciting bit of TV ever!) but it wasn't until left the show and cut his hair that I fell in 'love'. When I started secondary school I quickly realised he was not a very 'cool' crush so unlike my friend Claire I decided to keep quiet about it!

Many many years later I noticed in the local paper he was appearing in a local club (on a Monday night!) and rang up the only person in the world who be interested. So at the age of late 20-something Claire and I went to see our teenage pin up. It started off as a very depressing evening waiting for him to come on. We were about the only ones of our age there, sandwiched between teenagers who were probably only there because they were getting served and groups of late 30/ 40 somethings on a rare night out.

Despite an initial reluctance I allowed Claire to drag me to the front of the crowd (crowd may be a slight exaggeration) and I stood there feeling like a bit of a prat waiting for him to appear. But despite being stone cold sober ( I was driving!) when he came out and launched into his old songs, which I had not heard for years it all came back to me and I couldn't help but sing along. He knew the songs were crap and took the p**s out of himself all night. I was quite surprised at first how different he looked but decided there was still 'something' about him I liked..... especially as I got a kiss!

In my later teenage years I progressed to having a bit of a soft spot for Robbie Williams, but by then had decided that I was far too sophisticated for posters of pop stars and I adorned my newly decorated bedroom with these lovely lads....

image credit

I always meant to get a photo of Aaron holding Leo like the one above but never got round to it!

Not all sunshine and flowers

2012-02-08T20:13:00.000+02:00

I read somewhere the other day (no idea where now. so let me know if it was you and I'll mention it!) an article which asked if some 'Mum bloggers' were projecting an unrealistic picture of parenthood.

Well, yeah more than likely I'd say! Of course there are many very honest blogs out there talking about the less fun side of parenting, and important issues such as depression and special needs but you could easily mistake many more for living a perfect life... gorgeous children, perfect Mum's crafting with their children and others creating lovely home cooked meals every day.

From reading previous comments on my blog it occurred to me that people sometimes see a different view to reality.... living the high life in the sun? When I started this blog I didn't deliberately set out to only blog about the good stuff but as time went on it's kind of what happened, plus the fact it cheers me up more to write about the nice things!

I know a lot of people read this now and many that I know in 'real life' so I've tried to stay away from the moans, in fact it took me till last month to write my first 'moany' post. and I even toned that down!

I've been debating this post for a while but realised its my ~~party~~ blog and I'll ~~cry~~ whinge if I want to. So get the kettle on!

As you may know, Aaron lost his job back in August. We've been looking for work now for many months and it appears there is none to be found. Maybe 5 or 6 jobs found to apply for, with no response and one (unsuccessful) interview in 5 months. He is now looking further afield and has applied (still with no response) for jobs in Dubai and the Middle East. It would be the answer to our problems if he got one of those, although it might throw up a few more as it would mean me staying here and him working in a different country.

Having paid his social insurance payments since starting work, Aaron is entitled to unemployment benefit, this does however only last for 6 months so we are fast approaching this time now. My parents have been and continue to be amazing and are currently supporting us but I hate having to do this to them and I know it cannot continue. I really don't know what we will have to do, Aaron maintains that we will not HAVE to go back to the UK, which is more than fine by me. It's one of the last things I want to do and I don't know that it would even help us that much.

Our bills seem to be thundering through the door at once, and my car is making some worrying noises.

Aaron's car has been off the road for over a year now and in the garage for most of that time as they fix it slowly in their typical Cyprus way!

I really need to go to the dentist, but am putting it off as I know its going to cost me!

I feel like I haven't been warm for months - yes I know, sunny Cyprus but it's bloody freezing indoors. I spend every day in 3 or 4 layers of clothes and spend the evenings under a duvet. We have had the heating on as little as possible and have still been hit with a bill for over 500 euros for 3 months! I know it won't be long at all until the days warm up and as soon as that happens everything will seem easier though.

I won't even start on how much I need a hair cut, or how I no longer have a pair of jeans to fit and one of my two decent pairs of leggings has a hole in them as they are not essential things and I'm trying to forget how I thought they once were.

I'm trying to be positive (yep, positive we are stuffed!) and I'm sure I'll get moaned at for writing this post but by not writing it, I felt like it was stopping me writing anything else! I'll stop now before I remember there are more things to moan about.

Normal service will be resumed shortly and I'll be back to depressing you all with sunny beach photos.....

A family story - A travelling tradition

2012-02-08T06:30:00.000+02:00

Once upon a time there was a teddy bear, unloved and unwanted and left sitting in a charity shop feeling sad and hoping someone would give him a home....

That's the way my Mum saw this little fellow anyway as she passed by the shop window.

My Mum is a huge teddy bear fan and has been for years, but over the years she gradually got worse! Obviously teddy bears are lovely - I mean how horrible would you have to be to not like them, but Mum managed to take it to a whole new level.....

This teddy for some reason best known to my Mum became 'Travel Ted' and proceeded (much to our amusement and continued mickey taking) to travel all over the world with her having his photo taken in increasing unusual places. He's been to more countries than many people I know, from Greece, Spain, Barbados, France and all over the UK. It was decided that he would be going into retirement here in Cyprus but he may come out on special occasions!

I now secretly like the collection of photos - he has 3 albums all to himself, but could have cheerfully throttled the bear at points over the years when made to stop in random public places while a photo was taken. The most memorable being in a market square in Turkey trying to get a photo of him sitting on a 'interesting' statue or something with just my Mum and me and tons of people walking by, I did get quite annoyed with her! Maybe it's a 'mum thing' as it probably wouldn't bother me as much these days.....but don't tell her that!

I've been meaning to blog about the little fellow for ages now and this weeks 'Gallery' gave a very apt prompt - 'A Family Story', here are a few highlights of his travels but I will share some more with you very soon!

We did eventually realise after a few years that 'he' was wearing a dress and had a bow but by then it was too late to remember to call him a 'her'!

Life's a Journey - My earliest baby photo

2012-02-07T16:26:00.000+02:00

The reason I started this blog was to create a record of our lives, a kind of scrapbook but without all the arty / crafty side to it! I love a good bit of nostalgia, and think its important to be able to pass these things on through the generations. I recently found a blog 'Save every step' and they are running a new series called 'Life is a Journey' There is a weekly link up but I'm going to play catch up and do the previous prompts anyway,

My earliest baby photo.

My very first ever photo, taken by my Grandad on the day my parents brought me home. Born before the days of camera phones where the first photo is often taken minutes after birth and uploaded to twitter for the world to see I made it all the way home at 3 weeks old before my first photo call.

No prizes for guessing the decade I was born in!

I was born via caesarean section and as was the norm in those days my Mum had to stay in hospital for 3 weeks. Last year my Mum kindly wrote the story of my birth to share with me.

Project 52 - Week 5

2012-02-05T13:09:00.001+02:00

Discovering Cyprus - Agios Epiphanios

2012-02-04T13:00:00.000+02:00

I'm not a religious person and visiting churches was never very high on my to do list. Although over the years I've been to many churches and cathedrals in various countries and although I've appreciated the scale and architecture of many I can never quite get the required level of excitement that they deserve. I'm starting to enjoy it more now days, whether it's a sign I'm getting old or because I don't get out as much is irrelevant!

Or of course it could be due to the fantastic views you can find from many churches here in Cyprus...

At the end of the summer we visited the church of Agios Epiphanios in the hills above Agia Napa, a chapel devoted to the Byzantine bishop of Salamis. We had been here nearly two years before even realising this was here!

My parents discovered it accidentally while having a random drive about exploring and it's only since we have noticed a small sign pointing to it.

I've not been able to find any more information on this place so it explains why we've managed to miss it for all this time. It's not a day out by any means but if you are in the area it's well worth stopping for a look.

We took a lot of lovely photos while we were there, as Aaron got a bit arty with his posh camera! You can see the others on my Cyprus photo blog. Leo had lots of fun too as we were the only people there and he had a good run around whilst enjoying looking at all the mosaics in the floor around the church.

For more photos check out my Cyprus Photo Blog

My three books

2012-02-03T11:30:00.000+02:00

Reading has always been my passion and barely a day would go by without me spending at least a small part of it stuck into a book, well in the good old days before the distractions of the internet that is! Aaron is also a very avid reader and we've spent many days over the years reading in silence next to each other.

I can't remember a time when I didn't love books, my Mum likes to tell me how I used to tell her off for falling asleep whilst reading to me as I'd know when she got the words wrong.... much like a certain little man does to me these days. Our house was full of books and I regularly visited the library with my Dad which was hugely exciting... FREE books, what more could you ask for especially as I wanted to read everything, more than I could ever manage to buy!

I spotted on another blog a prompt to share 'my three books' one each from Childhood, Adulthood and Parenthood which got me thinking of my lifetime favourites so far. I have no idea how many books I must have read in my life but there are always those that stick out in your memory.

Childhood

I'm sure there were many different favourites over the years but the one that really stays with me is actually one of a series of books. We read 'Little House on the Prairie' by Laura Ingalls Wilder at school and I went on to read (and eventually own) the other eight in the series. It was a couple of years later I realised there was a TV show, which I was very disapointed with having spent so many years reading the books and never watched more than a couple of episodes. I'm now wondering why I ever decided to get rid of these books and thinking about hunting on ebay for them!

I guess that choosing a whole series is cheating somewhat so I would choose not the one that started it all for me but my favourite - 'The Little Town on the Prairie'

Adulthood.

An easy choice for me, without a doubt it would have to be 'Lightning' by Dean Koontz. The first book of his I ever read, borrowed from my old housemate and the book I have re-read more than any other. Time travel and world war two - two of my favourite reading subjects, what's not to love! I brought this book at a boot fair so I had my own copy and now it's the most battered book I own, one day I'll get round to buying myself a brand new shiny copy - it deserves it!

It also contains one of my favourite quotes......'Destiny struggles to reassert the pattern that was meant to be'

Parenthood

We've not long left behind the board books and 'My first word' type books so I've yet to read many proper stories with Leo. He loves his books as much as we do and among his favourites are the classic 'Mr Men' books and anything to do with Thomas the tank engine. Our current favourite though is the 'Apple Tree Farm' series. from Usborne books.

We read one a night before bed (and often at several points during the day too), they are a lovely set of books, really easy to read with gorgeous illustrations. Each starts the same way, and Leo knows the start off by heart. He either has a great memory or can read portions of each book as he often now beats me to it as I turn the page. I don't think I'll ever forget the beginning of each story, it will always remind me of this time...

'This is Apple Tree farm. This is Mrs Boot the farmer, she has two children called Poppy and Sam, and a dog called Rusty'

Learning Greek - I'm getting there!

2012-02-02T20:30:00.000+02:00

This week, a little later than planned I finally completed the first level of my Rosetta Stone Greek language course. I started the course back in June so it's taken me a while to get this far. The plan had been to get to this point by Christmas to be able to start 2012 with level 2 but with the whole house being ill in some sort of odd relay race it got a bit delayed.

Although I often need to push myself to complete a lesson or two, being too easily distracted by faffing around on the internet, reading or sometimes even falling asleep mid lesson (due to early mornings and toddler, I must add not through any fault of the lessons!) When I do get on and do it I genuinely enjoy it, like most things it becomes much easier when you get into the habit of doing it little and often.

As I've progressed through the first level I have attended the online Studio session for each lesson. These really make all the difference to me as it really feels like you are making progress when you realise you can talk in only Greek for 50 minutes! I still feel nervous before each new one but the tutors are lovely and they do put you at ease really well.

I've generally attended each studio session 3 times which really helped me to get my head round the language covered in each one, especially as I tend to book each one as I'm still covering the lesson it relates to - often meaning I struggle my way through the first time!

Having done some Greek before starting the course I did find it all reasonably easy at the start, but I was really pleased to see that its presented in a way that keeps it interesting all the way through even though there is obviously a lot of repetition (the only way you will learn a language after all!) The course moves quickly between listening, speaking, and reading with plenty of useful vocabulary and the all important grammar sneaked in there too.

I'm looking forward to moving on with the rest of the course, and excited to see what will be coming up next. We're starting to get into the more interesting stuff now we've covered the basics.

So onwards and upwards, Level 2 here we come...

I was sent the Rosetta Stone TOTALe course to review but the views and opinions are my own.

Like Father, like son?

2012-01-31T14:50:00.000+02:00

One of the first things asked of new parents seems to always be 'Who does he/ she look like?' I always hated this question as I'm usually unable to see any likenesses in people. It's often been said that I look like my Mum, and try as I might I just don't see it myself. Many of Aaron's family have said that that Leo looks like Aaron, and occasionally I've been told (mainly by my Mum) that he looks like me.

Again, I've never really thought he looks like either of us, so I had a look through some photos, and this is what I found...

Big night out!

2012-01-29T08:55:00.001+02:00

As you probably know by now, I love a good night out and most exciting are the 'posh' ones! I'm lucky in the fact that Aaron also loves a 'Black tie' event, and constantly despairs of those not doing properly. We love an excuse to dress up and we don't care who else is... New Years' Eve in our local pub Aaron wore his tuxedo and I a cocktail dress even though most other people were in jeans!

Aaron is one of the few people I know who owns his own tuxedo and he loves to have a reason to wear it so as this weekend saw the first Daxi Magazine Business Awards ceremony, and some of our friends nominated for awards we saw the perfect opportunity. I wore a gorgeous dress, on loan from The Maternity Wardrobe.

Set up by business partners Carine and Uta, The Maternity Wardrobe offers glamorous dresses to own or borrow and offers free delivery and returns all over Cyprus. With fantastic customer service - including not only beautiful packaging (I'm a sucker for a bit of ribbon and tissue paper!) but getting a second dress to me within 24 hours after I realised I'd vastly underestimated the increase in the size of my boobs!) they are the solution to every girls posh frock dilemmas!

It was lovely to get all dressed up and have a child free evening,

The evening was a success, and was the first of what is planned to be an annual event. The food was good, the alcohol was flowing, albeit not for me, and my only (very flimsy!) complaint would be that in my opinion piles of fruit does not make a desert - something sweet would have gone down very well, although had I been drinking I would have cared less about that!

It was a shame that our friends Mike and Claire were unable to make the awards, especially as they were nominated in two categories for their business MG Health and Fitness. Also well done to Gemma from Performers Academy of Dance and Theatre Arts on being nominated too. Hopefully next year, we'll all be back and you're be collecting awards too!

This is not a sponsored post, I received a dress on loan from The Maternity Wardrobe but received no other payment and the opinions are my own. You can find The Maternity Wardrobe on facebook, they also have a range of skincare, shoes, accessories and everyday wear and currently have a sale on!

Project 52 - Night out

2012-01-29T07:18:00.001+02:00

Taken last night, you can find out why I had such posh nails and read about our evening here.

Taken for Project 52 - a photo a week for a year

A rainy day in Cyprus

2012-01-27T07:00:00.000+02:00

Cyprus - an island in the sun, with 340 days of sunshine a year, or so they told us! So that means only 15 days of rain right? I think that might be a little bit of exaggeration creeping into that sales pitch as it seems we've certainly had more than enough of this....

On Wednesday this was the view that greeted me as I opened the curtains, I suddenly had the feeling this day was going to need a bit of effort to survive it. Leo has been suffering from a bad cough which had seemed to be on its way out but has now turned into a streaming cold. I am amazed at the amount of snot that can be produced by one child!

Because of this, Leo's not feeling his best and therefore is not he's usual happy self. A plan was needed to cheer him up....Let the activity day commence!

First up......
Making biscuits, but not just any biscuits, oh no, a day like this calls for the most exciting biscuits you could imagine if you are 2..... train biscuits! (recipe taken from Trouble Doubled)

There was a bit of a meltdown after I agreed we could ice then before realising I had no icing sugar, and again as he wanted to put the uncooked biscuits on his tracks rather than in the oven but we got there in the end. We then enjoyed tea (for Daddy and me) and milk (for him) and a train biscuit each.

After some Thomas on the TV (Leo) and washing up (Mummy) I realised it was past our usual lunchtime, this is not something that happens very often as like his Mum, Leo doesn't ever miss meals! It was obvious he was feeling poorly so I took inspiration from Vanja at Emma's Lunch and made it a bit more interesting.

He looked a bit confused when presented with it and said 'What you done to my lunch Mummy, it's gone a bit funny'. After explaining it was a special lunch it was quite taken with it,even though he pretty much just ate the cheese!

After lunch, I suggested we made a rainbow picture, (an idea to use up an old paint chart) which was met with large whoops and cheers so I thought we were onto a winner. We were, but only in a couple of chunks of about 5 minutes, after which he insisted I did it while he watched then attacked it with a purple crayon! Oh well, it kept him happy for a while...

After all that he went for a well earned nap, something which is becoming a rarity these days so he must be off colour. The sun did make a break through in the afternoon but by then all he was fit for was cuddles under a blanket on the sofa and a Thomas DVD on the TV.

Hopefully the sun will be out again soon and everyone will be back to full health.

Linking up to this weeks Family Frolics, with Multiple Mummy

A productive week

2012-01-26T15:17:00.000+02:00

There's nothing like a very productive week to leave you feeling cheerful is there, and this week has been more productive than most.

After more than two years we* have now painted every wall in our house. Leo's room was finished earlier this year, and this week Aaron's, with a little 'assistance' from Leo been on a decorating mission. In just three days he has painted the front room, bedroom and bathroom, and it looks great.

In the process we've also had a rearrange of furniture and a big clear out. It's a perfect Januray activity for me as it's very productive and makes you feel like you're getting somewhere!

The only thing left to be done is one wall in our bedroom which will be our 'feature wall' and then we have a fully decorated house. I have a sneaky suspicion there will be changes again early next year and more rearranging as I once again lose patience with things being pulled off low shelves and move it all high up again but for now we're ok!

*When I say 'we' I mean Aaron as I am banned from painting for once painting the hallway in Aaron's old house a rubbish pale pink colour, which obviously would have been bad enough but he also happened to have a deep red carpet, oh I didn't actually cut in very well meaning that the rubbish pale pink also ended up all over the white woodwork - whoops!

My Photography resolution

2012-01-25T13:32:00.001+02:00

This week's Gallery prompt is 'My photography resolution' and can be anything from learning to use a 'proper' camera (which would actually be a good one for me!) to getting yourself in photos a bit more often as opposed to just taking them. This seems to be a common problem for Mum's as they are usually the one behind the camera all the time.

My resolution for this year is an easy one, to get not just myself in the photos but the also record the progress of 'the bump'. When I was pregnant with Leo, Aaron got some lovely photos right at the end but had he have been on time we probably would have missed out on them.

I seem to have very few photos of the rest of the pregnancy, this time I'd like to make sure I get some more as I go along, and hopefully some similar photos towards the end with Leo involved as well.

Toddlers and technology?

2012-01-24T14:57:00.001+02:00

Unsurprisingly, given the fact that Aaron and I are often online, Leo is very interested in playing with our laptops these days. We use mine to look at 'the engines' on the Thomas and friends website and with Daddy he likes to type his name into Word. He doesn't realise that he could also do this on mine yet! He's become very good at it in just a few days and goes around spelling his name to anyone who will listen.

It seems that many toddlers are already used to todays technology, (although that could be a slightly false impression I've gained as I read a lot of blogs and bloggers are naturally going to be fans of laptops, smartphones and cameras, so by default their children will want to be!) and sometimes I feel a bit mean by not letting Leo loose with any of our gadgets.

It's not that I'm against toddlers using them, or that I think they are too young, it's just I don't trust a heavy handed 2 year old with my precious things.... I don't even let him hold my phone with the keypad locked! Just lately though I'm starting to feel a bit mean, especially since a friends toddler now even has his own photo blog :) The thing is, if he drops my camera or messes up my laptop I will cry.... I cannot be without either of those things!

I'm working up to the idea of getting him started with a mouse on some of the age appropriate stuff online, there are some games on the Thomas site, which so far I've played while he watched as I don't generally use a mouse which makes it quite tricky, and I had a quick look at Cbeebies the other day and saw they had some too. My only reluctance is the fact that once he knows they are there he'll be wanting to do it all the time!

I think I see a birthday present idea forming for him..... he has a Leap Pad 'laptop' (but it's obviously not as desirable as Mummy's) maybe time to investigate 'kiddy proof cameras?

What do you think, should I loosen up and let him have a go? Do you share your 'toys' with your children?

Project 52 - Week 3

2012-01-22T06:00:00.000+02:00

Slightly confused by a pair of gloves!

For other Project 52's and 366 entries head over to The Boy and Me's weekly link up.

Reasons to be cheerful again

2012-01-20T09:03:00.000+02:00

It's cheerful time again! This week seems to have flown by which must mean I've been feeling more cheerful than I have recently.

1. After more than 2 years we have finally decided to paint our living room and bedroom, I debated if we could afford the paint but with a little assistance from my Mum it turns out we can, and as I justified it to myself - if we had the money to get the paint Aaron wouldn't have the time to actually paint it as he'd be at work so better get it painted while we can!

2. I've discovered Pinterest, this is possibly not a good things as I didn't really need another way to waste time online but finding a lovely new site to play with is the next best thing to getting a new gadget.

3. It looks like Greek4Kids lessons will soon be coming to my area, which I'm really excited about. When they launched last year I really wanted to take Leo but it was just a bit too far to go every week. I think the lessons are a brilliant idea and hopefully I can help to promote it in the area and help their success.

4. I got some amazing bargains this week and we ended up rearranging almost our entire apartment to fit them in. It meant we had a good old sort out and declutter and I'm really pleased with the result, we've actually managed to make the place look bigger even though we've put more furniture in it!

5. I had an unexpected parcel arrive yesterday from my lovely friend in the UK. She sent a colouring book, crayons and sticker book for Leo and it was lovely to see how excited he was about it! It's so nice to receive something out of the blue, and she's written a lovely long letter to all of us too.

They really do say the funniest things!

2012-01-19T22:05:00.001+02:00

I know it's often said that kids say the funniest things but I never expected to be rolling about in hysterical laughter as often as I am with a 2 year old. Leo comes out with some absolute classics and often has brilliant (purely coincidental) comic timing. It recently occurred to me that I'm never going to remember later the things he said that I found so funny, until I remembered I had a blog that is....

So I'll apologise now Leo, in advance but try not to look at these as embarrassing in later life, more as cute!

Trying to get cough medicine into Leo has been an absolute nightmare, worked ok for a few days until he just refused until promised chocolate coin afterwards. The other morning he had the medicine and his chocolate and then five minutes later asked for more chocolate.
Leo: Can I have more chocolate please Mummy?
Me: No, you just had some. I told you, you only have one
Leo: Oh please Mummy, I want more chocolate
Me: No, you can't have more chocolate, you were lucky to get some this time of day anyway, that was bribery really.
Leo: Oh, Mummy, I want MORE bribery....

This last one is just cute, (and possibly beats 'Mummy is wearing a Princess' when looking at our wedding photos!)

Earlier today I asked Leo for a cuddle, he paused to consider my request and replied with
'Erm no, I'm a bit busy'
Me: Ok' I replied 'I'll cuddle Daddy then'
He looked at us frowning...
Leo: 'No Daddy, stop cuddling my Mummy'
Aaron: 'Why'
Leo: 'Cos she's MY Mummy'
Aaron: 'She may be your Mummy, but she's my wife'
Leo: 'No she's not she's my LIFE'

Click the badge to see some other classics over at Actually Mummy.
Also linked to Friday Funny

Far away but not forgotten!

2012-01-18T19:45:00.002+02:00

What would we do without the internet? That's not a rhetorical question by the way, I actually have no idea what we'd do! Clearly I am a big internet user, and can hardly remember a time when I wasn't but since we've lived in Cyprus it really has become an essential. It's been a god-send in helping us to find out about the area and important information on moving to a new country but most importantly for keeping in touch with friends and family back in the UK.

Email and other social network sites are all very well but these days a quick 'Happy Birthday' on someone's Facebook wall does not say (to me at least) that you've remembered and care about their special day, it doesn't take a genius to realise that if you've put your date of birth on your profile then everyone gets a reminder.

The best thing to do is something a bit more personal, something that shows you've actually made an effort. The problem with being abroad from our loved ones is that its hard to find presents to send back and then you have to rely on unpredictable post or huge postal rates, so we found that at the best gifts for her come direct from Interflora.

My Grandma for example loves her flowers and since being here we've still made sure she gets her birthday gift on time, which is handy - as I can't really see her signing up to Facebook any time soon!

Now all we need is them to also deliver to Cyprus and I might be able wangle one of these as one of my wedding anniversary gifts!

This is a sponsored post but my Grandma does love her flowers and I really do have no idea what we'd do without the internet!

Blue Eyes

2012-01-18T07:06:00.000+02:00

My love of photos goes way back, longer than I can even remember, My Dad was a photographer before I was born and therefore we had lots and lots of photos in the house, each with the date written on the back and lovingly put into albums. (Dad was a photographer but Mum is really organised!)

As I grew up I spent many an hour looking through all the albums and between my Mum and I we have now scanned all the photos onto disc, and backed them up, and uploaded them to two different websites... well you don't want to be losing all those irreplaceable pictures now do you!

I'm so pleased that I have this lovely record to look back on and share with Leo as he gets older, and how else could I prove that my eyes were once blue!

These photos were taken in Estepona in 1983...

Growing up, people often said I look like my Mum, and my Mum says she often sees glimpses of her Mum in me but as a child I definitely had my Dad's blue eyes.

I'm linking up to The Gallery - this week's prompt is Eyes, so it gave me a great excuse to dig out one of my best photos - even if it is nearly 30 years old!

Who doesn't love a bargain!

2012-01-17T20:39:00.000+02:00

I have to say that since living in Cyprus I really do miss shopping, this is a little bit of a surprise to me as I was under the impression that I hated it! Although I wasn't a fan of clothes / shoes shopping (I had no patience in finding things to fit and I don't 'do' heels which takes the fun out of shopping for shoes) it's nice to have to the option and I used to spend many an hour (pre- baby) wandering up and down the high street in the good ol'favourites, Wilkinsons, Asda, Primark, being the three I miss the most!

It's probably the thing I miss the most (friends not being a 'thing') and one of the biggest topics of conversation between my friend Sam and I! Buying stuff is just so expensive or hard to find here.... not just the clothes but the little things, Craft stuff - stickers, paint, crayons. Baby stuff..... 10 euro for one plain babygrow in Carrefour! I could go on.

Luckily not long after we arrived I was introduced to the wonders of the Thrift shop, a small building with a tin roof up on the army base. This little bit of occasional bargain wonderland is only open 3 times a week for a few hours each time but we'd be lost without it! Not only can you find a bargain, but you can take your unwanted items up for them to be sold, they keep a percentage and the rest goes into your account so sometimes not only do you find a bargain but you leave with more money than you arrived with! I've lost count of the great finds I've had from there - I got a Early Learning Centre play garage for Leo, 60euro in the shop, 10 from the thrift and most of the toys he currently owns!

There are several forums and groups on facebook selling second hand stuff, and this week we've been on a bit of a roll with our bargain hunting...... I know it's very early to be buying baby stuff but this stuff doesn't hang around.

First up - a lovely Mama's and Papa's cot and wardrobe for 50 euro. Only 10 euro more than we sold Leo's cot for back in November and in a much better condition!

2nd - a Graco Tour deluxe pushchair and carrycot in brilliant condition just slightly sun faded apparently, not that I found it was very noticeable. The following day I then found the matching group 0 car seat for sale by someone else which attaches so a complete travel system for just 50 euro.

And they say that things come in threes... today we found a moses basket with stand and bedding for 5 euro. I wasn't planning on getting a moses basket this time round as Leo was in his for only 6 weeks but at that price it was rude not to!

It's not just me out bargain hunting, everyone's at it these days, Emma at Me, the Man & The Baby and Me and My Shadow are bargain hunting and blogging too.

Making new recipes!

2012-01-16T08:30:00.000+02:00

I'm usually quite good at finding a reason to make cakes, I mean you have the obvious birthday's, visitors coming or some other vague celebration but the other day I didn't even bother to create a reason. I was bored, hungry and really fancied something sweet, then I read that Jenny (Mummy Mishaps) had been playing with her new toy - a Cake Pop maker and so suddenly decided I NEEDED cake.

Bored of plain jam sponge cakes I dived for my new 'Cupcake recipe' book (well - it's not that new but I've only made 2 of the recipes so far!) Unfortunately it appeared I didn't have the exact ingredients for any one of the 'different' cakes so for the first time ever I messed around with a sweet recipe (was always told you can do what you like to a savoury recipe but never mess with deserts!)

That's the recipe.... and what they are supposed to look like.

125g soft tub margarine (I used hard butter)
125g caster sugar (I used granulated)
2 large eggs (I used medium eggs)
150g self raising flour (I got this bit right!)
2 tbsp cocoa powder (didn't bother measuring it as there was not much left in the tin)

For the filling...
85g softened butter
175g icing sugar
25g plain chocolate, melted.

My usual cake making method, chuck it all in a bowl and stick the hand whisk in it! Leo helped with the cake cases and chucking mixture everywhere while I managed to get some into the cases. I've only made butterfly cakes once successfully as I've no patience when it comes to cutting the tops off so I decided against that but also I realised I had no plain chocolate as I got to that bit!

After a rummage in the cupboard I found some white chocolate left over from my Christmas baking so used that instead. With the decorative addition of some chocolate sprinkles by Leo our cakes were made... bearing no resemblance to the original recipe but very yummy nevertheless!

To see what other cake people have been making this month, click the badge below...

Project 52 - Week 2

2012-01-15T06:51:00.000+02:00

Sometimes you just can't beat lollipops and a bit of television to give three Mum's a chance for a decent conversation!

For other Project 52's and 366 entries head over to The Boy and Me's weekly link up.

Greek for kids - preparing for school

2012-01-13T19:49:00.000+02:00

Since (hopefully) enrolling Leo to start at pre-primary school later this year I've been thinking of what I can do to help him settle in. Although I'm trying to learn Greek and I know he will pick it up very quickly when he starts I want to do all I can to make it more comfortable for him.

Obviously his English is much better than his Greek but we have always tried to teach him things we know as we've gone along. We taught him to count in both languages at the same time, for a long time he didn't separate the two, counting 'one, ena.. two, dheio' but now will count in whichever language you ask him to.... when he feels like it of course!

He knows colours in both languages and will often pick something up and ask 'What's this colour in Greek Mummy?' to reply with 'yes that's right Mummy, that's clever' when you reply!

I've been following a great website now for a while - Greek For Kids and I'm certainly going to start using some of the ideas on there. I decided to start with making a Caterpillar Name tag with him as being able to recognise your own name has to be a good start doesn't it! He can spell Leo, and read 'Leonidas' so now to teach him how to read Λεωνίδας.

As it turned out, Nana arrived just as we started and as she is a lot more patient than me at such things I let her and Leo get sorting letters and making his caterpillar. Leo really enjoyed it and he listens to Nana much more than me so they both had lots of fun. We had lots of circles over so we also made a small caterpillar that says 'Leo' and a 'Leonidas' in English. We have stuck them all to his bedroom door and he now proudly points out which is English and which is Greek.

I'm linking up to Multiple Mummy's new Family Frolics linky which in her own words 'is aimed at parents / bloggers like me who do not feel 'naturally creative or inventive' but enjoy creative and inventive things with the family' To join in or just see the other entries click the badge below.

Reasons to be cheerful

2012-01-12T14:09:00.003+02:00

After the ultimate Reason to be Cheerful in my post last week where I announced I was pregnant I thought it was going to be quite hard to follow it, I've been joining in with the link up lately but to be honest have been struggling a little to find reasons, this is the beauty of these posts though, they make you realise you can always find something but this week I actually am feeling cheerful, it seems the tea and sympathy from the other day helped!

Today I've been very busy and I've been in 'good wife/ mother AND daughter' mode and it's felt a bit more 'normal' to be doing stuff... not only that it's still only 2pm and I haven't even poked my hubby in the eye for not actually helping with any of those things :) However I will now be going on strike for the rest of the day I think!

1. I went to get my blood tests done (all 7 of them!) and it was an unusually successful hospital trip. I was there at 7.30am and was out in under an hour, there is a ticket system in place for the blood tests and people were actually sticking to the order, in over two years in Cyprus I think this is the first time I've actually seen a queuing system work :)

2. I drove my Mum to her Reiki appointment as my Dad is still recovering from the flu, and I gave my Dad some home-made tomato soup as he's been unable to eat properly for the last few days.

3. In between hopsital appointment and driving duties, I had a housework blitz and mopped, swept outside, did washing, and got everything to how it should be. I even remembered to defrost chicken for dinner!

4. I got Leo to eat a full lunch for the first time this week by cutting bread, ham and cheese into Christmas tree shapes - it was going to be Mickey Mouse shapes but he saw the tree cutter and was adamant he wanted that one, that was not a battle I was going into - trees he wanted so trees he got and he ate the lot!

5. Yesterday I went to register Leo for school - another thing I'd been not looking forward to and the blog post I wrote about it resulted in some very helpful / supportive comments and emails. It's also inspired me to do some more language learning stuff with Leo and to get stuck into my own.

6. Last but not least, Michelle mentioned me in her own Reasons to be Cheerful post as one of her 'hidden gems'

Dazed and confused - finding out about schools in Cyprus!

2012-01-11T20:21:00.000+02:00

My least favourite thing about living in Cyprus is the fact that I generally have no idea what I am doing most of the time when it comes to the 'official' stuff. I realise this is partly my fault and if I could speak some useful Greek (rather than the random things I have learnt so far) then life would be much easier, but as yet my Greek is so limited I cannot hold any kind of helpful conversation and I'm constantly trying to figure out what the hell is going on!

I have spent many many hours on line trying to find concise information on everything from becoming residents, getting medical cards, tax rebate and most recently how, when and where to enrol Leo into school. Although over the last couple of years I've used many websites I have yet to find one with all the answers, this is probably due to the fact no-one knows all the answers as I have a sneaky suspicion they frequently change!

Using a combination of websites and experiences of friends I managed that the Ministry of Education of Cyprus offer education to children age 3 and over, but it is only compulsory from the age of 4 years and 8 months. This means they MUST complete a year of Pre-primary before entering Primary School from 5 years and 8 months old. I'm not 100% sure on this bit but I believe this is free of charge when the child is four and there is only a fee if they start at age three.

This morning I went to register Leo at the local pre-primary, I found out they start at 7.45am and finish at 1pm. They have limited places for afternoon but I believe these are offered first to working Mums (which makes sense). It will cost 80 euros or 100 (and something) if I wish him to have lunch before leaving just after 1pm.

That's about it, I don't know any more about the whole process - what they do, how big the classes are, when they start the term, and other things I haven't actually wondered about yet! They will ring me (when I have no idea!) to tell me if he has a place, obviously as it is compulsory for 4 year olds to attend priority is given to them first.

To be fair the ladies at the school were very nice and helped me to fill in the registration form which was all in Greek but I always feel so uncomfortable sitting with many conversations going straight over my head and feeling completely lost.

Although I'm sure he will be fine and take to it all like a duck to water, I worry for Leo and hope he picks up the language quickly. I would love to be sending him somewhere in advance of school to get him more used to it but at the moment finances will not allow that. Time to really get serious and finish my Greek course so I can help him out I suppose!

image credit

Tea and sympathy please

2012-01-10T18:59:00.000+02:00

I feel like I've been very quiet on my blog lately compared to recent months, this is partly due to trying to keep the fact I am pregnant quiet, and then on the day I blogged about it I came down with the cold/ flu bug that Aaron had over Christmas, I really felt rough, and this was not helped by the fact I couldn't have any decent medicine...... by the way did you know you can't get Lemsip (or equivalent) hot lemon sachets out here, it's tablets or nothing! Now Leo's taking his turn with a cough that's keeping him up most of the night, and reminding me how rubbish it is to have interrupted sleep, hmmm forgot how bad that was.

So today I'm linking up to 'Here Come the Girls' for the first time and joining in with her Tea and Sympathy link up. I generally try to stick to talking about cheerful things on my blog, aware that I might accidentally go into a bit of a rant and scare everyone off but I'm liking the idea of a bit of tea and sympathy, although can we have cake too?

I'm really not a fan of January, last year I felt like I was waiting and this year I've just got the hump! I hate being cold and although the days are usually warm and sunny, as soon as you get indoors it's freezing, I never realised how much I took central heating and carpets for granted! My winter wardrobe is very limited, and it getting worse as already my jeans are too tight to wear (to be fair they were fairly tight before!) and I'm living in leggings which is getting bit dull!

We are still waiting though, waiting for social insurance payments, waiting for doctors appointments, waiting for news on Aaron's car which had been off the road for over a year, and above all else waiting for a miracle in which Aaron finds a job.

I have what feels like the longest ever list of things in my head, and it seems that none of these can be easily fixed. I am plodding slowly from day to day with no plan of action but hopefully it's just a January thing and if I grit my teeth and go with it, things will work themselves out.

Tomorrow I'm going to attempt to register Leo for pre-primary school, although I have no idea what I'm doing and I'm not really looking forward to it.....

Actually forget the tea and sympathy, can I have a large vodka and some cigarettes?

Project 52 - Week 1

2012-01-08T07:47:00.001+02:00

Welcome to Project 52...... a photo a week for a year.

After deciding not to join in with the 366 photo challenge that many of my fellow bloggers are doing as I didn't want the pressure of having to do it EVERY day I realised that Project 52 would be a much more achievable goal. It also means that I no longer have to be 'completely Silent' on Sundays!

This was actually the very first photo of the year, taken just after Aaron had made a mad dash through painful hailstones to protect our glass dining table.

Can you believe the size of those things!

For other Project 52's and 366 entries head over to The Boy and Me's new weekly link up.

The one with the announcement!

2012-01-05T18:39:00.000+02:00

You may have noticed a bit less in the way of blogging from me over the last couple of weeks, although this was handily disguised by Christmas the real reason can now be revealed....

Yep..... I'm pregnant!
Regular readers of my blog will possibly guess this wasn't entirely planned (or even vaguely!) but 'Que Sera sera' and all that!

I found out just before Christmas and although I was fairly sure as I took the test (even though one before had been negative) it was still huge shock to see those two lines staring back at me. People had asked if we planned to have another and my standard response was always 'No, but never say never' Truthfully I'd always wanted two children but finances and living space was never conducive to having a bigger family. The timing could be MUCH better, as Aaron is still looking for work, and we are struggling, and we sold Leo's cot only in November! but as several people have told us, it will all work out in the end...... I admit I have no idea how but we'll have to figure that one out!

It's still early days and I did wonder if I should wait before announcing so publicly but blogging is such a part of my life I know I'd want to write whatever happened so I saw no reason not to. I am 7 weeks at the moment, which makes me due at the end of August...... that's going to be fun in 50 degree heat!

I've had 2 scans, one before Christmas at a private clinic as I had no idea of my dates and was concerned I could be anything up to 12 weeks already, and today I went for my first appointment at the General hospital where they scanned again and gave me my dates. So although many people in the UK wait until 12 weeks that's usually the first time they have a scan.

It will be interesting to see the differences in giving birth in Cyprus compared to the UK. I've heard lots of things......they can be very quick to give c-sections, they don't do much in the way of pain relief, and they are not hugely pro-breast feeding among others but that's only things I've heard on the grapevine so I won't be making any sweeping generalisations and I'll let you know of my experiences as I go!

I'm linking this to Michelle's Reasons to be cheerful, it's the 1st year anniversary of the linky this week and I thought as reasons go it's quite a good one!

Top five photos

2012-01-01T09:24:00.000+02:00

It seems at the moment it's all about the photos, the blog world is full of people starting 366 projects, where they plan to take a photo each day to have a record of the year to look back on. The Boy and Me successfully completed the project last year and I did consider joining her and the others this year but as much as I love my photos I don't think I could manage to keep it up for the year. Maybe if I was using a smartphone to take and post my photos it would be a lot easier, but the thought of using my camera, finding the lead and uploading a photo a day seems a little ambitious! Also I didn't even take a single photo yesterday meaning I would have failed before I'd even started!

Instead I think I'll be focussing more on the photo blog I started last year - Discovering Cyprus. I started with good intentions and then got a bit distracted but I will start to look back through my large collection of Cyprus photos and gradually share them with you.

Talking of photos, for this weeks Listography, Kate asked us to share our top 5 photos of 2011. I debated over scenic shots, family shots, and in the end came up with these... it was a very hard choice!

Silent Sunday

2012-01-01T08:30:00.000+02:00

2011 it's been nice knowing you!

2011-12-31T09:54:00.000+02:00

It's the time of year when you can't help but reflect over the previous 12 months and wonder what the next 12 will bring. For those who have been following my blog for a while you will know that this year has been a mixed bag for us....

The highlight was my parents moving over to Cyprus in March, and the low point was Aaron losing his job in August. It's been great to see a couple of old friends from the UK who managed to visit us this year but sad to say goodbye to two friends of mine who had to move back to the UK. Among the worries though there have been many good points, various birthday's, days at the beach and meet ups with friends.

"Picnik Show"

Create a free slideshow with Picnik!

I'm linking up to Michelle's Reason's to be Cheerful this week, I haven't joined in for ages due to the fact that I've been really scraping the bottom of the barrel to find some decent reasons each week, but looking back over the photos of my year I realise we've still had a ball!

It was a year full of simple things and could have been better but was not that bad - although I hope 2012 will bring some good changes for us..... and a lot of luck - I think we're gonna need it!

Christmas 2011

2011-12-27T11:50:00.001+02:00

We had a lovely Christmas, the first one spent with the three of us and my parents together, on the day Leo woke later than usual at about 6.30am, he came into our room as normal and said all excitedly 'it's got light Mummy!' (He says this with great joy if he wakes up and it's not pitch black as he has less reason to go back to sleep!) He asked me to get up and was very surprised when I said 'Ok then' and jumped out of bed.... this is not something that usually happens! To add to his confusion Daddy was also getting up - this certainly never happens at this time of day when Mummy's up too!

I asked him if he remembered what day it was and despite the excitement of the previous days he didn't know. I reminded him that Santa may have been and he rushed into the hall, looked around and ran back to me saying 'No, he's not here' I wondered out loud if he may have left something on Leo's bed for him so he ran back to his room, starred at the bed and somehow didn't see the red stocking stuffed with presents!
Once I pointed it out though he grabbed it and ran to Daddy to show him.

There was also a pile of presents in the front room with an inflatable Santa perched on top. He also managed not to notice these for a good 5 minutes whilst standing right by them. Eventually he turned round and did a double take, first seeing the Santa on the top and shouting 'YES, there he is!'

He hadn't really got the whole idea of opening presents, first trying to get us to do it for him, but eventually got into the swing of things. It took almost an hour to open his stocking presents but he picked up speed as we went eventually not wanting to look at what was in them preferring to go for the next one!

Leo loved the whole experience, even if he got a bit confused at times. He kept handing his presents to Daddy saying 'There you go, Daddy - Happy Birthday' He then thought it was his birthday (we've been to several parties lately!) and then thought it was 'his' Christmas....I explained Christmas was for everyone but he disagreed - but I suppose he may have a point!

We spent the rest of the day at my parents with more presents and a lovely dinner cooked by my Mum. As you would expect I took a ton of photos and was never going to be able to decide which to use in this post - luckily I have just discovered Picnik slide shows....

"Christmas 2011"

Create a free slideshow with Picnik!

Happy Christmas!

2011-12-25T05:00:00.000+02:00

Wishing all my readers a very Merry Christmas!

Christmas of Yesteryear

2011-12-21T14:07:00.003+02:00

This week brings us the last Gallery of 2011, and the prompt is Christmas of Yesteryear. I was quite excited when I saw this prompt last week as it would give me a great excuse to look at all the old Christmas pics, except then I went and forgot all about it!

It's lucky really that I knew exactly which photo I wanted to use...

This was taken in 1986, of my friend and I caught having a sneaky peak of the presents under the Christmas tree! Unfortunately I'm the one in the rather unpleasant pink trouser suit, I'd like to blame that on my Mum but I have a horrible feeling that I used to love that outfit!

I used to drive my Mum mad by constantly poking and prodding the presents under the tree, I used to spend ages trying to guess what they were but I actually never wanted to find out! One year I had accidentally come across a present of mine hidden and after a second of being really pleased I was getting what I wanted felt quite disappointed that I knew before the day!

My presents from 'Father Christmas were placed into a pillow case and left at the end of my bed but in the run up to Christmas one or two from my parents were put under the tree along with those for the rest of the family. This came about after the year I wondered why everyone else in the family had a present under the tree except for me!

Even when I realised where all the presents came from I insisted on most of them being kept hidden until the day - I knew I wouldn't be able to resist picking them up to have a feel and I didn't want to work out what they were.

I can remember very clearly laying under the tree with Catherine in the photo above - she was a much better guesser than me (she unwrapped her presents one year when her Mum was out and tried to re-wrap them!) but even she didn't know what it was that I was getting, I don't remember what it was that particular year but they were always good, and made better by the fact they were surprises!

What makes Christmas...

2011-12-18T09:17:00.000+02:00

Everyone has their own Christmas traditions and favourite things about the season and I've been really enjoying reading all about them on the many different blogs I regularly read. Joining in with the festivities is Kate with this week's Listography as she asks us all What makes Christmas, Christmas for us

1. The Tree - You cannot have Christmas without a tree, it's the first thing you need! Even when I lived on my own and wasn't even indoors for the majority of the Christmas season I still had my own little tree that I decorated with the Christmas CD playing several vodkas and singing my head off to 'Lonely this Christmas' like a festive version of Bridget Jones!

2. The music - I LOVE Christmas music much to Aaron's disgust, it doesn't matter that is not necessarily 'good' music but it's got to be done! The last two years I have got up and thrown open the balcony doors as wide as they go and played 'Fairytale of New York' at full volume whilst singing and dancing round the balcony, not entirely sure what the neighbours thought but who cares!

3. Food, food, food! Christmas dinner of course but also the mince pies, cheese straws, chocolate (mmn especially Lindor - thanks to my friend Larisa for bringing some out to me!) Boxing Day dinner of cold meat, cheeses and pickles.

4. Presents - I know it's not (supposed to be) all about the presents but I love giving people presents, and although not so much this year it won't be long before that will be the main excitement for Leo. As a young child I did appreciate it wasn't ALL about the presents but it was still the best bit! I can't wait to see him open his presents this year.

5. Family - Spending time with those you love, having fun, a bit too much to drink and playing board games!

Silent Sunday

2011-12-18T07:37:00.002+02:00

Christmas Tree Craft

2011-12-16T23:08:00.000+02:00

You may already know that craft activities are not something that comes naturally to me, add my complete lack of patience and a wilful toddler into the mix and it's not something that usually fills me with joy! However Leo does get very excited and I thought as it's Christmas ~~it would give me something to blog about~~ it would be a lovely thing to do :)

I really can't remember if I saw this idea on another blog - if I did and you know which one let me know and I'll credit it as it seems unlikely I would have come up with the idea all by myself!

What you need - toilet roll tubes, red paint, card (I used a cereal box), green paper, stickers and glitter glue.

Paint the tubes, and leave to dry.
Cut out Christmas tree shapes and stick to the card.
Stick the trees to the rolls and then decorate with stickers and glitter glue to look like baubles and tinsel - Done!

Leo was a bit bemused at first as the only painting we've done just involved splodging colours randomly on paper but he eventually got the idea. When they were dry I explained what to do and did one to show him, he understood what I said but then, as two year olds like to do completely ignored me and preferred to stick the decorations on the back of the tree!

With some encouragement from Daddy he got the hang of it in the end and we ended up with three cute looking Christmas trees. Leo has since been asking to do more every day!

Grab my button
and link to my blog

And for more Festive posts and ideas head over to Thinly Spread where you can find Festive Friday

The Ultimate Christmas Meme!

2011-12-14T19:53:00.000+02:00

Have I mentioned that I love Christmas? The blog world is going a bit Christmas crazy so it was only a mater of time before 'The Ultimate Christmas Meme' appeared, it was started by Mummy Alarm and I've been tagged by Jenny from Mummy Mishaps who loves Christmas as much as I do. I love an excuse to get even more festive so here's my answers...

1.The Christmas song I can listen to even in June is...
As much as I love Christmas I wouldn't want to listen to any Christmas songs in June, it's weird enough often being sunny here in December let alone listening to Christmas songs in 40 odd degree heat! I like to keep Christmas special so try not to do anything festive until December. That said if I had to choose one it would be the best Christmas song of all time - Fairytale of New York.

2.Hot Chocolate, Egg Nog or Mulled wine?
Seeing as I don't like the others it would have to be Hot Chocolate, preferably with a big slug of baileys in it.

3.When do you put your decorations up?
Not on Christmas Eve that's for sure! Usually about 2 weeks before the day itself, again - although I love Christmas I don't like it to start too early, I think there should be a law against putting them up in November!

4 What are you having for Christmas dinner?
Turkey and all the trimmings, I've already made and frozen Red Cabbage and Cauliflower Cheese, two recent additions to our Christmas dinner but in just a few years have become a very well loved part!

5.What is your favourite Christmas tradition?
Putting the decorations up I think, it's an exciting part as all the festivities are still to come and I enjoy having a drink and listening to the Christmas CD while doing so - the decorating is an event in itself! Although come back to me in a year or two and I may have developed more traditions as Leo grows up which may change my answer!

6. Have you ever gone Carol singing?
Once many years ago with the Brownies, we didn't actually knock on doors but we stood in a big group at the top of my road by the shops, bus stop and pub! I seem to remember there being quite a crowd of us with Brownies and parents, siblings and anyone else who got roped in, and I think I really enjoyed it.

7. When did you learn the truth about Santa?
I don't know how old I was, but one year I woke up as my bedroom door opened and I saw my Mum putting my presents at the bottom of my bed. I asked what she was doing and after a slight hesitation she explained that Santa was very busy delivering all the presents so she had met him downstairs and was just helping him out. I don't remember if I totally bought the explanation but I think I may have done as I wanted to believe. Even as I got older I still insisted my Mum continue putting my presents in my bedroom - she drew the line when I was out to the pub and going to bed later than she was!

8. How do you decorate your Christmas tree?
Lights, then tinsel, then decorations... as Leo can now tell you! (he was desperate to get the decorations out and we kept telling him to wait as that was the order so he started repeating it!) Our tree is huge, its almost 8ft and very wide, it was big in our old 3 bedroom house but *may* be slight overkill in our apartment, I don't care - I love it!
It's always been a 2 colour tree, only red and silver decorations. We put it up together with the Christmas music blaring away in the background to drown out Aaron's moaning ;) and then he puts the lights on as I always end up getting really annoyed with them. He usually puts the tinsel on too as I 'don't do it right' (I like to argue this point but it does look better when he does it - but ssssh don't tell him!) then the rest is down to me, this year with Leo's assistance for the first time.

9. What's the best thing about Christmas?
I love it all, food, drink, presents, cooking, get togethers, even present wrapping and card writing but this year the best thing will be Leo as it's the first year he will really start to appreciate what's happening.

10. All I want for Christmas is...
Apart from good health to my family and friends all I really ask for is for a job for Aaron, well, either that or a huge lottery win!

You know the rules.... 'do the meme and tag some bloggers' but rules are meant to be broken! If you fancy joining in go for it and let me know, I'll give you a mention.

Meeting Father Christmas

2011-12-11T19:16:00.001+02:00

Last weekend was Leo's first bit of Christmas excitement, as he got to meet Father Christmas twice. I took him to see him last year but he was a little underwhelmed to say the least back then, (I didn't even write a blog post about it!) and although he didn't cry at all the whole experience pretty much went over his head! This year he understands who he is meeting, even though he doesn't get the whole 'presents coming at Christmas thing - I've deliberately not mentioned too much about that as if I tell him Father Christmas will bring him presents he will just want them RIGHT NOW.

The first meeting was at the school on the army base's Christmas Fayre. The excitement started when Father Christmas arrived waving to everyone from the top of a fire engine with sirens blaring, We then queued with his friend (who's five) and he saw him go first so that would have encouraged Leo to do the same.

Leo was a little unsure but walked in holding my hand and then randomly asked Father Christmas to give him a 'High five' When asked what he wanted for Christmas he said he didn't know but he nodded when told he must be a really good boy and then he will get some presents on Christmas day. He took his gift and said 'Fanks Cissmass'

He left the grotto clutching his gift - a lego 'alike' toy for age 6 and above which I swapped with a colouring book won from the tombola when Leo wasn't looking, (may have been a small flaw in the sorting out of the gifts!)

The Farye was more enjoyable than the year before as last year he had not been walking long but also was not happy in a buggy, this year he was really happy to be given some money and pay the lady for a go on the games!

We had a good haul between us, although I lucked out a little... encouraged by my parents and Leo's run of luck on the tombola (biscuits, tinned hot dogs, Christmas pudding, chocolates, colouring book, pencils, more lego) I had a go and won a large tin of rather dubious looking green beans, although I did manage to do a swap with my Dad for his Oreo cookies!

Being on the army base it felt just like being in a UK primary school, although I'm thinking they wouldn't have had stalls outside!

Silent Sunday

2011-12-11T08:06:00.000+02:00

Toys of Childhood.

2011-12-10T13:55:00.001+02:00

Everyone is talking toys at the moment as we approach Christmas and it got me thinking about the toys I loved as a child. Jenny from Mummy Mishaps looked back at some toys from her toddler hood (and I had a couple of those like many of us did in the early 80's, Fisher Price phone anyone?) so thought I'd look at my childhood toys.

Image credit

I had a Cabbage Patch Baby all dressed in pink which I think was called Norma, not a name I really liked for my little doll but that's what it said on her birth certificate so I stuck with it! I had a bigger 'real life baby' doll which I had for years and probably got played with more but I did love this one - do you remember they used to smell like Talculm powder!

Image credit

Care bears....the love of my childhood life! I was their biggest fan, I had 3 years of 'Care Bear parties - so 3 birthday cakes (that was must have been quite easy - same cake, different colour, different picture but I didn't think of that!), I even had a surprise on my 25th Birthday when Aaron got me a Care Bear cake made for my School Disco themed party! I had a huge collection of bear gathered over the years, cuddly one, poseable ones and little ones,Professor Coldheart, the cloud car and a few Care Bear Cousins.

Image credit.

My Litte Pony - these were great and I can still remember the names of the ponies I had (Lickerty Split, Bow Tie, Minty and Peaches in case you wondered!) I had the little blue stable and my friend who lived over the road had the Dream Castle so I used to take my things to hers and we'd play with it all together. There were many outfits you could buy for them but they were expensive so my brilliant Mum made loads of accessories for them instead.

All of these toys escaped each time we had a clear out and when I moved out the ended up in my parents loft where they stayed until they started sorting things out for the move to Cyprus. As I wasn't pregnant (just!) and even when I was to be there would be no guarantee it would be a girl we decided we should get rid of them all :(

There was much debate.... boot fairs and Ebay seemed too depressing as I'd probably only get pennies for such a huge collection and it would be a lot of effort, so I rang my best friend, one who played with them herself as we'd known each other since playgroup. She had a 5 year old girl and I asked if she would like all the toys for her. Funnily enough she said yes!

I took them all down one weekend, my friend kept back the doll for Christmas and as to not overwhelm her but I gave her the rest. Her Mum and me then spent a very pleasant afternoon showing all the bits and telling her their names. The funniest bit was when my friend Mum walked in and saw me and Nicola sitting on the floor brushing the ponies hair (with her daughter now watching TV instead!) She looked a but stunned and said it was a sight she hadn't expected to see again!

I'm glad I didn't have a girl in the end as I would have been a bit sad that I'd given all 'her' toys away but I'm so pleased they went to Nicola and her daughter, it seems quite apt that they have come full circle!

Homemade Lemon Curd

2011-12-07T11:11:00.001+02:00

I've been on a bit of a domestic goddess fad lately, making enough Mince pies to feed the village and Onion Marmalde but I took it to another level last week and made my own Lemon Curd, I'd even been saving jars to put it in! It was actually really easy to make, and a damn sight cheaper than buying it as I've not seen a jar for less than 4 euros here. I just need to find someone with a lemon tree and it would be cheaper still!

You will need...
Grated zest and juice of 4 large lemons
4 large eggs
350g golden castor sugar ( I didn't have any so used normal granulated, seem to still work!)
225g unsalted butter cut into small chunks
1 level desert spoon cornflour

Lightly whisk eggs in a medium size saucepan then add the rest of the ingredients over a medium heat. Whisk continuously until mixture thickens, should be about 7 - 8 minutes.
Then turn the heat to the lowest setting and continue to whisk for about another minute.
Remove from the heat and pour into hot sterilised jars as full to the top as possible, cover with wax discs, seal when hot and it will last in a cool place for several weeks.

The recipe makes three 1lb (350ml) capacity jars.

Let the Christmas baking commence!

2011-12-06T14:05:00.002+02:00

One of the things I always enjoyed as a child in the run up to Christmas was doing the pre-Christmas baking with my Mum. Mince Pies, and Cheese Straws are the ones that stick in my mind, along with decorating the Christmas Cake with the ancient plastic Santa, holly and robins.

It's only in recent years that I've decided that I like mince pies but apart from a couple of years when I left home I've always made them, it just doesn't feel like Christmas until I've made them now. Fortunately now I like them too I can actually eat my own cooking!

Although I enjoy cooking, it's taking a while for me to enjoy cooking with Leo but he enjoys it and I want to involve him so I split my baking into two parts. He helped me make the pastry in the morning and I left it to chill until he had gone to bed before I made the pies.

You can tell I'm getting old as I had actually planned to go to the pub with Aaron the night I made these but turned down my parents babysitting offer to stay home and bake, what is the world coming to!

Once Leo had gone to bed I opened the wine and put the Christmas CD on - one reason why I did it when Aaron was at the pub as he tells me off for starting Christmas too early. When the first batch was in the oven I rang my parents and invited them to be offical tasters and join me in a glass (or 3) of wine.

I have no idea how many pies I made, I know it was 6 batches of pastry (I made 3 lots but I doubled the ingredients each time) - It was a little bit like a production line, and we *may* have tried several on the way from the cooling rack to the storage box so I gave up trying to work out how many were cooked!

I've never made my own mincemeat so I used 3 jars in total, next year I think I'll try making my own. I was going to post the pastry recipe but I'm not actually sure which one I used now, but it's not rocket science, just sweet pastry so I'm sure you could figure it out! I also made some tarts with my home-made Lemon curd as I thought Leo would prefer those - and they are yummy!

So I now have a whole shelf in my freezer of mince pies but I won't be eating them all - it should keep my Dad happy till New Year at least. I'll just make sure I keep one back to leave out for Father Christmas.

The best Christmas songs in the world ever!

2011-12-04T21:40:00.000+02:00

Love Christmas = Love Christmas music, it's the best way to get you in the festive spirit!

Growing up we had an LP (remember those? Big round black vinyl things? No, ok I'll continue) of Christmas Carols which was very nice but as I got a bit older I discovered the joy of the Christmas Song!

Every year at the end of the school term there would be charity events, and own clothes days and it would all be topped off with the Sixth Form Christmas show where all the teachers would make prats of themselves for our amusement. The best bit for me was at the end when they used to play all Christmas songs and everyone would be so over excited about the holidays and what was to come. That was the start of my love of the Christmas song, now much to the disgust of my hubby who thinks they should only be played on one day I can't wait to get the Christmas CD out each year.

It's a tough call but I've been trying to list my top five favourites...

Well, first of all there is no question what the best Christmas song of all time is, those opening notes make me smile every time...

Moving on, it gets a bit trickier as there many that I like, so in no particular order...

Shakin' Stevens - Merry Christmas Everyone - just makes me want to dance!
Wizzard - I wish it could be Christmas everyday, - Let the bell's ring out for Christmas! I always used to get this and Slade's Merry Christmas Everyone mixed up, I love that too but I Wizzard just tops it.
Mariah Carey - All I want for Christmas, I really don't like Mariah generally but love this song. I remember the year it came out, it was the first year I was out over the festive period and it was played constantly in the pub I was drinking in.
Wham - Last Christmas, not the best song in the world but how can you not love it, and it's got a lovely video!

I'm trying to get Leo excited about the Christmas music but currently he's firmly on his Dad's side and is refusing to be interested.... going to have to call in reinforcements I think!

Linking up to Listography

Silent Sunday

2011-12-04T07:06:00.000+02:00

The first of the Christmas traditions

2011-12-03T20:10:00.000+02:00

Every family has their own traditions and habits over Christmas and every year it makes a popular topic of conversation in the run up to Christmas, what you eat, where you go and what time you open presents are just a few of the many things discussed. I have been with Aaron many years now and mostly our Christmases were similar and they kind of merged into one but the Christmas after we got married we discovered a bit of a compatibility issue!

Just to set the scene (Sorry Aaron, you knew this blog post was coming didn't you!) Aaron hates Christmas.... well, he likes Christmas Day but he says that Christmas should be just that, one day. I on the other hand think of Christmas as a season! I love the run up to Christmas as much, if not more than the day itself, I love shopping, cooking, wrapping presents, writing cards, carols... the whole thing and it drives him nuts.

That year we had been having our annual conversation where I try and convert him and get annoyed when he doesn't get all excited and was debating when to put the tree up. He said he didn't care when it went up until we had kids but when we had a child it would be not going up before Christmas Eve once they had gone to bed.......

I was actually lost for words and that doesn't happen very often! I may have even laughed at the very thought of it. The decorating of the tree was always an event in itself for me, and as a child marked the start of Christmas. I immediately came up with a whole list of reason why that was NOT going to happen, if for no other reason it would be the last thing I'd want to be doing on Christmas Eve, especially if I had kids!

His argument was that it is magical for kids to come down on Christmas morning to see the room transformed into a Christmas 'wonderland' Growing up that is how his family did it, - Aaron and his brother and sister would go off the bed on Christmas Eve to wake up to a stocking on the bed and tree, decorations and a pile of presents downstairs. I can see where that would be exciting, but to me surely the presents alone are exciting, I don't remember being anything other than excited on Christmas morning despite having had the tree up for a couple of weeks. I can understand that he would want to recreate what he had as a child but this is just wrong :)

He was adamant, but so was I. I told him there was no way that would ever happen, and because I wanted them first I told him they would get done when he was out and then he would have to explain to our child if he was going to take them all down again to put them up two weeks later :)

Since then, we tend to have the discussion every year, especially this year as he said Leo is at the age to really appreciate it Christmas morning, he was shot down in flames by my parents and I and once again (as he always will) has lost the battle. My parents and friends will be putting their's up before this time so wouldn't Leo think it a bit odd that we are the only people without any?

So, it has been decided (by my Dad and I, who declare ourselves in charge of such things) that next weekend is the time for them to go up. I'm being very good I think as I'm very excited about Christmas this year so could quite easily be persuaded to put them up now! As much as I love it though I don't like them up too early, and I agree that we should have no decorations or anything Christmassy before 1st December (I may have sneakily played Fairytale Of New York last week but no-one was in so it doesn't count!)

I haven't edited that photo - he actually was wearing a black Santa hat with 'Bah Hunbug written on it!

Flashback Friday - a moment in time

2011-12-02T08:00:00.003+02:00

As I'm sure you have gathered from reading my blog I LOVE photos, I can easy spend hours looking at old photos or faffing about with them. Over the years I've taken hundreds and have rarely been at an event (or non-event!) with having taken any, because of this its very unusual to suddenly see a photo some time after it was taken (or in this case uploaded to Facebook - I'm on there so much it's very unlikely that I would miss something!)

I came across this unimportant looking photo the other day posted on the facebook page of my old 'local' - the pool club we used to spend most of our time in. It was a totally ordinary Thursday evening and we taking part in the monthly quiz night - hence the serious 'thinking' faces.

Apart from the fact I didn't know it had been taken and I've only just seen it 3 years later it jumped out at me for another couple of reasons....

It was weird to see my old pool club - I spent ages looking at the photo, imagining what the place looked like and who would have been there that night, then remembering all the various nights (and days) spent there. Looking at the table I can see that Aaron is drinking whiskey and coke (no ice - we never had to specify all the bar staff knew without asking) and I was probably drinking Red Bull and lemonade, my favourite 'driver's drink' at the time.

The main reason though is while we were sat at this table I believe I made some comment about my top being uncomfortably tight. Aaron looked at me and said 'Well I reckon you're pregnant'. I remember not knowing what to say, I knew it was possible, and even quite likely but we'd been not NOT trying (if that makes sense?!) for so long that I'd kind of given up wondering each month.

He was convinced but I just shrugged it off and joined him for a cigarette (yeah - I know don't leave me comments telling me it's bad, I'll just move them into the spam folder!) That cigarette was not at all enjoyable and I put it out, decided that the Red Bull was making me jittery and had a cup of tea instead.

The next day I brought a pregnancy test on the way home from work, (well that and a box of tampax - I was hedging my bets!) and he was right.... little Leo was on his way!

Also linking up to BritMums blog prompts

Getting back in the habit

2011-12-01T21:00:00.001+02:00

Several weeks ago I completed a fitness assessment with MG Health and Fitness, I enjoyed finding out that apparently I'm fitter than I think I am, and survived the run up the hill, I was advised on the areas I need to focus on and how best to move forward not just for short term solutions but to work towards a long term fitness goal.

A few days later I was back for another class and I was all committed to my new plan, then the following day I picked up Leo awkwardly and put my back out - you may have seen me moaning about it on twitter / facebook! Although Claire from MG helped me out it meant I had to miss classes, I could hardly stand up let alone get to the studio!

It doesn't take much to get me out of an exercise routine, so I really had to force myself back there this week but I know that if I don't get stronger / fitter then the problems will continue. As Claire is out the country Mike was taking the Legs Bums & Tums class. It's a good job I can't blog as I'm exercising as the words running threw my head were not printable!

Having only really exercised at home with DVDs or on my own at the gym, working out with an instructor is very new to me. Mike is a great trainer and a hard taskmaster! I will very easily give up on a particular exercise when working on my own when I think I can't go on..... not something you can get away with there!

It is reassuring to know that working with a trained instructor I'm much less likely to do something that would be bad for my weak points (back, knees, shoulder....I could go on - and do quite often!) and as they are small classes it almost becomes a personal training session as he adapts it to suit, of course the downside to it is the fact it makes it a lot harder to hide in the crowd and have a sneaky rest!

So, Legs, Bums & Tums - I'll be back next week so it can't have been all bad. I really enjoyed it and now am just hoping I'll be able to walk in the morning :)

This is NOT a sponsored post, I am choosing to attend MG Health & Fitness Studio and recommending it to anyone in the local area - I have not been asked to write about it.

Discovering Cyprus in photos

2011-12-01T13:06:00.001+02:00

Photos have always been one of my great loves,I wouldn't call myself a photographer by any means but my Dad used to be a professional photographer and Aaron is very good so between us we get some great shots. From a very early age I enjoyed sitting with my Mum looking through all the many family photos we have and I can look at photos all day long, even people I don't know!

I love sorting through my photos and choosing which ones to use here on my blog but it's so hard trying to limit them when we have so many lovely ones. I've started to make collages of them which helps a bit but there is a limit to how many you can squeeze into a blog post!.

So I've started a photo blog to run alongside this one to enable me to share more with you. It's called Discovering Cyprus to complement the section on my blog with the same name. The two will be linked together when I post about our travels around the island, but from time to time may just post some photos over there - we've got a lot already from the last couple of years.

You can find my photo blog at http://emsyjo.posterous.com/ or follow me on twitter or Facebook for updates on it.

It's still all Greek to me!

2011-11-29T19:46:00.001+02:00

Regular readers of my blog will know that I'm in the process of learning Greek, I have been learning it on and off for several years now but have struggled to get into a regular pattern of studying. When I received my Rosetta Stone TOTALe software back in July I was very excited (I really was, I believe I may have tried to put Leo to bed an hour early.... it didn't work!) and threw myself straight into it, doing a little almost every night and scheduling Studio sessions whenever I could.

Included with the TOTALe package is 3 months subscription to the online services, and when this ran out I think my motivation left with it! In the similar way to going to an actual Slimming World class helped me to lose weight the live sessions ensured I kept up with the lessons and didn't start to skip days. The thought that you have one booked and you are going to be having a 50 minute conversation in Greek makes me much more inclined to get on with it!

Rosetta Stone have kindly offered me further on-line access to the Studio Sessions and other on-line content so I've eagerly booked up my next two sessions, one tomorrow and one at the weekend..... I've gone back to basics and am choosing to re-do Level 1 and 2 rather than the Level 4 that I had got to as ~~I've been slacking for so long~~ I'm reinforcing my knowledge of the early stuff.

I'm determined to stick with it this time, not only will I need to speak the language when Leo goes to school but now I'm working I'm dealing with locals on a daily basis and often making phone calls to people who don't speak English very well, or at all - in times like that I really need to be able to say more than 'I'd like 2 beers please' (even though that's almost definitely what I'd be wanting!)

I'd also like to say how impressed I was with Rosetta Stone support, (and for not pointing out how stupid I was when it turned out I was typing the activation code in incorrectly *bangs head on keyboard*) When I couldn't find the answer to my problem on the website, I spoke to an on-line support guy for an hour who did some techy stuff and fixed the first problem. Then the following day after discovering I had a problem with the new activation code, swearing at the laptop for a while and them giving up with the hump R.S called, remotely accessed my computer and sorted it all out in a few minutes.

I'm now all good to go again.....

Silent Sunday

2011-11-27T07:05:00.000+02:00

2 years in Cyprus

2011-11-24T23:00:00.001+02:00

Today is our 'Cyprus Anniversary', we have now been in Cyprus 2 years! Last year I looked at the difference a year makes and how much it felt like home. It wasn't the easiest of years and I had always been looking forward to this second year, actually in some ways this year has been even harder due to Aaron losing his job and money being somewhat tight but in terms of feeling like home this year has been an improvement.

My parents moved out in March and now it seems like they've always been here, it seems like I've known my friends here forever and now I've even got a job!

Aaron is now on the committee for the Famagusta Eightball Pool Championships as Vice Chairman and is Captain of his team 'All the Kings Men' who play for the King's Sword Pub in Agia Napa. Aaron has been playing pool for years but this is the first time he's been Captain!

I'm now writing for Daxi, a local magazine and also enjoy getting involved with the brilliant website Mums in Cyprus. I've just started working with MG Health & Fitness and I'm (slowly) learning Greek, all of which is making me feel more like I belong here.

It's really not as easy as it might sound though, especially at the moment while we are looking for work Sorting out child / unemployment benefit (we are entitled to it as Aaron has worked and paid social insurance for two years here and we are still in the EU) is very difficult due to not only the language but the random way in which things usually seem to be done! Even simple things like going to the doctors can be hard but it's obviously going to get easier as time goes on and we get used to it even more, and before you say it I know it was our choice.... if we don't like it then go home (you were thinking it weren't you!)

I do sometimes wonder if we made the right decision, (sssh, don't tell anyone!) but only when things are a bit crap - and it's very easy to blame the fact we live in Cyprus for that and forget that we'd be sure to have various problems in the UK too. Aaron has no doubt whatsoever and he may well be right (but don't tell him so!) but then I've always been one to 'overthink' things.

Overall, it's bloody great and I think it's the best thing we've ever done. We've met great people and had some great times....

Things that make me happy

2011-11-24T17:59:00.001+02:00

As part of my 101 list I decided I would make a list of 101 things that make me happy. I started making the list back in July last year and although most of it came to mind pretty easily I soon got stuck, I was determined that it wouldn't beat me though so I saved it and have been coming back to every now and again. Of course, now I've finished it I'm sure a load more things will pop into my head that should have gone on the list!

I'm also cheating a little and linking this up to 'Reasons to be Cheerful' this week over at Bod For Tea as although I've not been the most cheerful person this list reminds me of many reasons to be!

Being Mum to Leo
Being married to Aaron
Sunshine
Good friends
Losing excess pounds
The view from my balcony
Photos
Good music
My parents
Dancing
Making lists
Floating on a lilo
Leo laughing
Not being in debt
Tidy apartment
Drinking with friends
Weddings
Sleeping in late
Reading good books
BBQs
Talking
Smoking!
Meeting people at airport arrivals
Sleeping snuggled under a duvet
Playing with a dog
Eating good food
Having a plan
Finding a bargain
Watching a sleeping Leo
Baking cakes
Catching up on facebook gossip
Organizing events
Seeing Leo learn new things
Going for random drives with AJ
Completing a crossword
Being just the “right” temperature!
Getting my hair done
Eating together as a family
Being busy
Blogging
Watching a good program or film
Sitting outside in the evening
Watching the sunset
Going to the pub (without Leo - like the old days!)
Planning a party
Being a stay at home mum
Days out
Drinking cocktails
Meeting up with other Mum’s and babies
Reminiscing
Having enough sleep
Having a cupboard full of ironed clothes (by someone else!)
Clean sheets
Comments on my blog posts
Swimming in the sea
Jeans that fit perfectly
Giving presents
Tea and biscuits!
Getting a parcel in the post
Emails / phone calls from friends in UK
Christmas dinner
Watching Leo do something new
Bath and bed time!
Leo sleeping well at night
People being on time for things
Having a pile of magazines to read
Being up so late that it gets light (assuming I can then sleep all day!)
Playing/dancing/singing with Leo
New clothes
Paddling in the sea
Building sandcastles/digging with Leo
Standing out on the balcony at night
Playing board games / Wii games with friends
Watching Leo playing with his friends
Hot baths in winter time
Cool showers in summer!
Getting a new toy (phone, camera, any kind of gadget!)
Rearranging cupboards and getting rid of junk
Hitting ‘publish’ on a great blog post
Being organized
Having my cupboards full of food
My car
Reading trashy magazines on the beach
Playing ‘ipod roulette’
Finding I’ve got new ‘blog followers’
Cake and chocolate!
Beating peoples high scores on stupid facebook games
Jigsaw puzzles
Choosing books in a library
Finding money you didn’t realize you had
Spa / massage treatments
Dressing up
Boot sales
Learning new things
The internet!
Comments on my photos or facebook status
Putting up the Christmas decorations
The view of the sea as you drive round Cape Grecko
Re-watching my wedding video
Having something to look forward to
Finally finishing a task I’ve been working on for ages!

I started my Day Zero project on July 29, 2010 so I've got 523 days left. I've completed 45 items off the list so it's not going too badly. To see how I'm doing you can visit my 101 in 1001 page here.

Onion Marmalade - Creating Christmas

2011-11-23T17:18:00.000+02:00

Last night, feeling particularly organised I decided to start the first of my Christmas cooking, I love cooking and particularly enjoy preparing things for Christmas, as a child I always looked forward to making Cheese Straws and Mince pies with my Mum, always to the sound of carols so it's usually the start of the festive season for me.

I decided it was a little too early to break out the Christmas CD so instead I opted for wine and Strictly Come Dancing on the TV in the background... obviously Aaron was out so I had control of the TV!

Some time ago I found a recipe for Onion Marmalde and thought it would be nice to go with cold meat and cheeses over Christmas. Aaron introduced me to the brilliant Boxing Day tradition of this meal and we always used to get some sort of onion relish. You can buy it here in Cyprus but there is not a huge choice and it's not usually very cheap so I thought I'd give it a go.

Despite collecting jam jars for a while and ordering a pack of wax discs and jar covers from Ebay, once I started ~~drinking wine~~ cooking the marmalade I realised that I didn't actually have any idea what to do with them....

It's a really simple recipe.....

110g butter

900g Onions thinly sliced

2 tbsp granulated sugar

Salt and freshly ground pepper

75ml sherry or red wine vinegar

2 tbsp grenadine or creme de cassis

1/2 bottle of red wine or less (or more if you are anything like me!) to taste

Melt the butter in a medium pan and add the onions. Add the sugar and seasoning, cover and simmer for 20 minutes.

Add the vinegar, red wine and grenadine, cook uncovered over a low heat stirring when necessary until the sauce thickens and bubbles slowly.

Then get a bit confused about what to do with the wax discs and the cellophane bits that came in the jam jar kit and tweet frantically to anyone who'd listen trying to find out.

Feel relived when you notice The Boy and Me online and bombard her with silly questions until you kinda figure it out!

I sterilised the jars in the oven (after quick Google search to find that out - jars on tray at low heat for 20 mins) and then spooned the hot mixture into the hot jars. (and all over the worktop and down the sides but that wasn't part of the plan)

Wax discs onto the top then cover with the cellophane and seal with an elastic band - voila!

I would have taken more photos if I had remembered - spot the wine glass in the picture!

To see the other 'Creating Christmas' posts click the badge below

Sponsorship Opportunity - BritMums Live

2011-11-22T12:22:00.000+02:00

After reading so much about previous blogger events such as Cybermummy11 and the MAD blog awards and seeing the excitement created by them on twitter and on lots of blogs I follow I have been hoping I would one day get the chance to attend one. Since BritMums Live was announced I've been planning my trip!

BritMums Live is the biggest blogging event of the year, devoted entirely to parent bloggers, and run by the UK's largest parent blogging network of more than 3000 influential bloggers.

Now, as you should have gathered by now although I am a Brit, and a Mum, I actually live in Cyprus which means I could do with a little assistance in getting to the event! Attending BritMums would be a fantastic opportunity for me but I would also like to use this opportunity to work with a company relevant to my family and our lives and the readers of my blog.

In case you are a new reader to 'A matter of choice' let me introduce myself....

I'm Emma, a 34 year old expat Brit, wife and Mum to Leonidas our 2½ year old. We moved to Cyprus in 2009 because it seemed like a good idea at the time, and luckily it was!

I started this blog as a way of documenting our move and our 'new' life and keeping family and friends who may be interested updated in what we were up to. I didn't realise at first that I had joined an amazing community of fellow parent bloggers and other expats all over the world.

Blogging has provided me with some great opportunities, and the chance to work with some great companies. I now write a monthly column for Daxi Magazine, and have my own section on Mums in Cyprus.com and the global expat network Angloinfo.

I would love to attend BritMums Live to meet in 'real life' with many of my fellow bloggers, and find out more about this brilliant community, how it works and how I can further improve my little bit of cyberspace.

I am looking for a kind sponsor to help me out in being able to attend this fantastic event.

In return I can offer you the following...

I will represent your company (and only your company) at the event itself. This includes wearing an item you may wish to provide promoting your brand..... by this I mean a t-shirt or badge, as much as I love fancy dress a giant chicken costume or similar is not the way I wish to meet my fellow bloggers.
I will place your company logo and link to your website in a prominent position on my blog for the whole of 2012.
I will write reviews of any product you would like me to try on my blog with text links and photos.
I will write an introductory post introducing you as my sponsor which will also include keywords and text links.
I will mention your company and sponsorship in any post, twitter / facebook and other social network sites when talking about my attendance of BritMums Live.
I will mention your company in a feature about the conference on Mumsincyprus.com Angloinfo.com and in local magazine - Daxi

I am also happy to discuss any further requirements you may have.

So, what would I like in exchange for the above?

BritMums Live ticket £49.99
Travel expenses £190
One night hotel accommodation £115

I feel this is a great opportunity for any company wishing to raise their profile in Cyprus, the UK and across Europe. If you are interested in the above or would like any further information please contact me via email amatterofchoice@hotmail.com or on twitter @Emsyjo

Ladies who cake.

2011-11-21T12:12:00.000+02:00

I love cake.... well who doesn't!

I love to bake cakes but I'm not even vaguely artistic and to make matters worse have zero patience so generally not very good at even trying! So in our house when it come to making special occasion cakes it become a team effort, I bake it and Aaron decorates it. Between us I think we've done well, there was the pumpkin cake, the ghost cake, Mickey Mouse for Leo's birthday among others.

A couple of people said we should sell them but they as good as they are, they are not that good.... these however I think are brilliant...

They are the work of my lovely Sister-in-law and her business partner who have recently started 'Ladies Who Cake' They are based in Kent working from home and since they started earlier this year have been inundated with requests.

You can find them on facebook at Ladies Who Cake

This is NOT a sponsored post, I have received no payment, not even any cake for writing this, I just wanted to share these brilliant creations with you. I will however be demanding samples when I'm next in the UK :)

Silent Sunday

2011-11-20T08:23:00.002+02:00

The week that went too fast

2011-11-19T17:26:00.001+02:00

Last Sunday was an unusual day, I said 'see you later' to my friend Michelle and then went straight to the airport to meet my friend Larisa which was great timing as it cheered me up! I saw Larisa once last August when I was in the UK but Aaron hadn't seen her since we left almost 2 years ago and Leo wouldn't have remembered her.

Leo loves to look at photos so in the week leading up to her arrival I showed him lots of photos so he knew who was coming. I think she was quite surprised he took to her straight away like he'd seen her every day of his life, even before she showered him with presents!

Regular readers (and fellow ex-pats) will know that one of my least favourite things about living in Cyprus is the lack of reasonably priced clothes (and toys, books, stickers among many other things) so Larisa had been gathering goodies for us for a while. I'd also been on ebay winning random items to be sent to her, I'm surprised she had any room left for her own clothes!

Before she booked Larisa said she was thinking of coming over in November or January, I suggested November as the weather would probably be better but unfortunately it rained for most of the time she was here. It meant we couldn't do most of the things we'd planned and there is not a lot to do in Cyprus when it rains. We managed to get out in the day a few times in the end but luckily she had come to see us rather than the sites as there was not much rain free time in the last week!

Leo absolutely loved Larisa and would not leave her alone for a second, it's a good job that with three nephews she is used to it and loves being 'Auntie 'risa' All you heard all week was 'Come on 'risa I got an idea - come in my bedroom / sit on the floor / play Thomas / read this and so on. Each morning he woke up and asked where she'd gone, to then get very excited when she appeared each day.

We tried to fit 2 years of gossip into her time here and I feel like I've been speaking for a week, chatting about all kinds of random rubbish is what we do best! It all seemed to go by too fast though and last night I had to take her back to the airport for her flight home. I don't do very well with 'goodbyes' so in my usual style I stopped at the drop of point and with a quick see you later was gone. I'm sure she won't be offended by that as it's pretty much what we said 2 years ago, and although it took a while is exactly what we did!

People come into your life and people go.

But it's comforting to know the ones you love are always in your heart,

And if you're very lucky, a plane ride away.

Carrie Bradshaw, Sex and The City.

Flashback Friday - Weekend in Paris

2011-11-18T09:12:00.000+02:00

One of the best presents and biggest surprise I've received was from Aaron for our first Christmas as a married couple. We were at my parents house exchanging gifts (we used to save our and take them round so we all opened the presents together) and Aaron handed me two presents. I opened the first one to reveal a guidebook for Paris. With a present like that after a moments confusion you start to wonder if it's a rather random choice of gift or a clue to an amazing one!

It was of course a clue, the next present I opened was a wallet containing travel documents and an itinerary of things that he had planned for us. It was booked for the early January and Aaron had already cleared it with my work to have the time off!

I'd never been on a city break before and I although I was really looking forward to it, I didn't think it would be like a holiday as such.... weekends go very fast and I didn't think it would be particularly relaxing - the only ever foreign trips I'd taken being beach holidays which involved a lot of sitting in the sun doing nothing!

I was very wrong, It was an amazing weekend, although I may have been known to moan about the amount of walking we did! (in my defence I was a lot bigger and very unfit at the time!) Aaron had really thought the whole weekend through and apart from the lack of use of the Metro it was perfect )

It's hard to pick a highlight but I could narrow it down to two. On the Saturday evening we had a lovely dinner followed by a show at the Moulin Rouge, I love big showy performances and you don't get much more so than this!

Aaron had also prebooked an evening dinner cruise on a Bateaux Mouches, this was amazing! A five course meal with music whilst cruisng down the Seine - that takes some beating! The moment I will always remember was when we were stood outside, just as we happened to be passing the Eiffel Tower. It was freezing cold and as I was wearing a dress was suffering, Aaron gave me his jacket and just as he put it round my shoulders the lights on the Eiffel Tower sparkled (as they do for the first 10 minutes of every hour when the tower is lit up) - how ridiculously romantic is that!

To see more great Flashbacks, head over to Cafe Bebe.

The Gallery - 11/11/11

2011-11-16T07:16:00.002+02:00

It may not rain very often in Cyprus but when it does it really chucks it down, since we have been here we have seen some huge storms and have spent many an evening staring out the patio doors watching the lightning illuminate the sky.

Never before though have we seen a sky lit up like this...

What made it all the more surreal is the fact that not only were we stood outside with no sign of rain anywhere, we could also hear no thunder at all. The storm was way out to sea and went on for almost an hour with nearly constant lightning!

It was a fitting end to a day with a unusual date, and the perfect timing for this weeks Gallery post, the prompt was 11/11/11 and the task was to use a photo to mark whatever we were doing on that day.

It's not goodbye, just 'See you later'

2011-11-14T16:35:00.003+02:00

One of the advantages of being an expat Mum in Cyprus is when you meet other British Mums with similar age children you immediately have at least two things in common. This can be very helpful when making new friends in a new country. Some people you just click with and it seems like you've known each other for years.

Of course, there is an equal disadvantage to making friends abroad, the fact that circumstances can arise which makes it necessary for them to leave. My friend Michelle leaves for England this week with her gorgeous little boy, Oliver who is one of Leo's best mates.

I met Michelle initially via Facebook and we met in real life early 2010, meeting up generally at least once a week at 'Jingle Jangle's' toddler music group.

The boys are 'usually' best of friends but go through stages of seeming to hate each other! Both as bad as one another in different ways they often have their moments where all they do is wind each other up.... Oliver likes to get very close to Leo, usually accompanied by the cutest sounding 'alwight mate?, yeah Leo's alwight, he's just a bit crying' to which Leo, will throw himself to the ground crying 'Owiwer pushed me' when actually all he did was to stand a bit too close!

Although I'll see Michelle again before she goes, the boys have already said their goodbyes, not that they realised it. We met at the soft play place along with another friend of ours and her son and spent over an hour trying to get a nice photo of the three boys together.

They were being even more uncooperative than 2 year old boys usually were and in the end we gave up and enjoyed watching playing instead!

I'm glad they are too young to realise that Oliver is moving away as I would have been even sadder when we said goodbye as we left, as it is Leo's little wave and 'Bye Owiwer' as he got in the car nearly made me cry!

I'm not good with 'goodbyes' so I refuse to say it, but hopefully they will be back soon :(

Silent Sunday

2011-11-13T06:50:00.003+02:00

Creating Christmas

2011-11-12T07:01:00.000+02:00

I must apologise for bringing up the 'C word' so early.....Christmas is not actually that far away, but you probably knew that. I imagine that in the UK it's been everywhere you turn for weeks now? but here it's only the last week or so that I've seen or heard any mention of it.

I'll soon be reading all the usual stuff online about Christmas stress and shopping in tweets and facebook statuses and be thankful that I'm out of it, don't get me wrong I LOVE Christmas but can't stand all the faffing about presents... who everyone is or isn't buying for, how much it's costing etc etc

I like to think that maybe people are going to worry less about it all with so many people now struggling for money but I'm probably being optimistic.

This year, for the first time I'm doing home-made stuff, it may not be brilliant but it's the thought that counts and it's that or nothing! I only be doing things for a very small amount of people as we are so far from everyone else and I know they will be happy with their gifts, but if I thought someone would be offended by a home-made gift then I'd probably decide they are very rude and not be inclined to give them a gift at all, after all it takes more thought and time to make something than to pick up some random gift in a shop which they quite possibly do not even want.

I'm really looking forward to getting into the kitchen to create lots of (hopefully) yummy Christmas treats, you can expect some blog posts along the way about it, and I'm also planning to try and get over my reluctance to involve Leo in the kitchen and get him 'helping' along the way. I loved the run up to Christmas as a child and I hope to create plenty of excitement and traditions for Leo over the years, helping to create gifts for others I feel is a very good start!

I'm not the most naturally creative of people and I'm always trawling the internet for ideas so I'm looking for inspiration, I know there will be a million blog posts out there so if you have one I'd love you to share it with me... if you have a Christmas craft, recipe or home-made gift idea then please join me and add your post to the linky below.

I'll be doing a 'Creating Christmas' post on Mondays between now and the day itself starting in a week or so, but the linky is open now so feel free to link up any posts you already have, to help me out - your ideas might just work their way into my Christmas plans. You can stop by each week to join in, or you can visit my Creating Christmas page by clicking on the link at the top of the page. Posts can be new or old as long as they are relevant, and feel free to add as many as you like!

Grab my button
and link to my blog

Lest we forget

2011-11-11T11:11:00.007+02:00

They went with songs to the battle, they were young.

Straight of limb, true of eyes, steady and aglow.

They were staunch to the end against odds uncounted,

They fell with their faces to the foe.

They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old:

Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn.

At the going down of the sun and in the morning,

We will remember them.

Laurence Binyon (1869 - 1943).

image credit

www.poppy.org.uk

Flashback Friday - the best weekends in the world!

2011-11-11T07:10:00.001+02:00

Back in the good ol'days we went through a bit of a second childhood! It all started with my hen weekend when 8 of my friends and I went to Butlins for a 'School disco' weekend and ended up with five separate trips in just two years!

They were quite simply the best weekends of all time! Friends, fancy dress, dancing, drinking and lots and lots of laughter. There was something about the place that made you regress to childhood - maybe it was all the flashing lights on the arcade machines! From the Friday when we arrived until the Monday when we left it was like being in a different world - a world that was often very surreal!

Aaron and I, as we do went to great efforts to persuade everyone to dress up, at least on the Saturday night. Over the various trips we have been school kids on several occasions (the simplest and one of the most fun, especially when there are 8 of you dressed like it!), Superheroes, and other random and quite brilliant costumes ranging from the '118 guys', Scary Clown, Scooby Doo, and 'Pink Ladies'

This often led to random behaviour - Aaron running around terrifying people dressed as Scary Clown, Me (Batgirl) and 'Wonderwoman' running around the huge indoor pavilion at stupid o'clock in the morning pretending to fly, Aaron and one of my friends trying to win a teddy in one of those 'grab machines' whilst handcuffed to each other only to press the button and have to arm fall into the pile of teddies, then trying to complain to the manager whilst still handcuffed. Me and the girls going on stage for an actual game of Mallet's Mallet - remember that? I could go on, but they just get worse!

The adult weekends were brilliant, we did different themed ones - School Disco, 80's and 70's and we have seen some brilliant (and random) acts over the years. Boney M, Bananarama, Kid Creole, Five Star (well 3 of them!) Chas & Dave, Doctor & Medics, and *ahem* Timmy Mallet and Chicco.... both of whom I drunkenly ended up having my photo taken with, *hangs head in shame*.

We saw brilliant tribute groups too, 'The Jamn', Badness, Maddonna and Wham Duran. We danced until we dropped, drank our body weights in alcohol, ate burgers at 4am in the morning and laughed until our faces hurt!

I've had this post in mind for ages as I've been trying to think of a way to do it justice, but I can't. 15 days in total of Butlins madness can never be summed up in a blog post, and many stories (and lots of the photos) cannot be published on here! I may now be hundreds of miles away but I don't think I'd be very popular!

The last one was in 2007 and there were a record number of us, 22 I believe it was. We knew it was going to be the last one as many of the group were now 'coupled up' and the dynamic was changing a bit, in fact it was not long after that the first of the group started having babies! Since those photos above were taken there have been 10 babies born between us.... that's quite a scary thought!

Reasons to be Cheerful 1,2,3 - still smiling, just!

2011-11-10T19:09:00.000+02:00

I'm still smiling, well I say smiling, it's more like grimacing through the pain! On Tuesday I picked up Leo off the sofa and pulled a muscle in my back and it got steadily worse throughout the day, Wednesday morning it took me 20 minutes to get out of bed :(

I'm still cheerful though as in particularly good timing I've met the lovely Claire from MG Fitness and they don't just do fitness, Claire is also a qualified sports massage therapist so has been helping me out and at least I can now get in and out of bed!

Tomorrow I'm due to meet up with a couple of my friends at the local soft play place, I'm only kinda cheerful about this one of the girls leaves Cyprus next week to move back to the UK and we're really going to miss her. I am looking forward to the meet up though as Aaron is also coming (to save me having to climb round the play area with a bad back!) and he's only been to soft play once with him before, so will be great for him to see how much he loves it.

My biggest reason to be cheerful is the fact my friend Larisa arrives on Sunday for her first ever visit to Cyprus, I saw her once last year in my visit to the UK but apart from that its been 2 years, so I'm looking forward to plenty of gossip to catch up on!

10 Questions

2011-11-08T20:21:00.001+02:00

There is another meme doing the rounds at the moment and I've tagged by Jenny from Mummy Mishaps.

1. Describe yourself in seven words.

Enthusiastic, loyal, inpatient, persistent, talkative, frustrated, sociable.

2. What keeps you awake at night?

Not much, usually I sleep very well but these days it's not so much Leo waking up rather the thought that he is about to wake up! I can lie in bed for ages thinking he's probably going to wake up any second, sometimes he does, sometimes it an be an hour or two later but I still do it!

3. If you could be anyone for a day who would you be and why?

I think I'd be Leo, it would be fascinating to see the world through his eyes and be able to have the best time ever by playing with a box or jumping on some squares. It would be interesting to better understand how annoying it must be to be 2 years old and to see things from his point of view.

4. What are you wearing now?

Pyjama's, big fluffy dressing gown and slipper boots. I realise I could have lied and pretended I was actually dressed but I do most of my blogging either late at night or really early in the morning!

5. What scares you?

Our finances, or lack of them!

6.What is the best and worst thing about blogging?

There are several good things about blogging, it's hard to narrow it down to one. I suppose the best is the people I've 'met' which is odd as I've not met any in 'real life'. I love the community between bloggers and the way they bounce off each other, inspiring them and supporting them. I also love the fact it is providing me with a record of our life that will be great to look back on.

The worst... well many people have said about the cyber bullying that sometimes goes on but I stay out of that so it's not my worst. For me there is no real downside but if I had to pick it would be the time I feel I 'have' to spend doing it and being online, although that's self imposed and I don't HAVE to I can't complain really!

7.What was the last website you looked at?

Facebook, it's such a habit so it's usually the first and last one I look at!

8.If you could change one thing about yourself what would it be?

Hmm, that's a hard one. I could say I wanted to be fitter/thinner but I could change that so I should come up with something better. I would be able to speak Greek fluently - I'm working on it but I think fluency is a long way off!

9. Slankets, yes or no?

In case you don't know the Slanket is a blanket with sleeves, I want one! Aaron would go mad - he used to moan that I always sat under a blanket in my flat but it would be perfect for the cold winter nights here!

10. Tell us something about the person who tagged you.

Jenny is the first person I started chatting with when I started blogging, and although we've never met I would now consider her to be a friend, we 'talk' more often than I do with most of my 'real' friends! We have discovered we have lots in common and not just a love of drinking and fancy dress!

The rules...

Answer the 10 questions

Tag someone to do the same

Come back to the original blog post by Super Amazing Mum and comment saying you've done it so everyone can find the posts.

I'm going to tag Christine - Expat Mum in Portugal as I'd like to find out her view on the Slanket.. wondering if she will be feeling the cold as much me after a long hot summer!

Health & Fitness...

2011-11-07T22:35:00.000+02:00

I've never been a fan of sports or going to the gym, from my school days until only recent years I would go out of my way to avoid doing even the smallest amount of exercise, I was the big kid in the class, the one always picked last in games and I used to dread every PE lesson. This stayed with me as I grew up and would miss out on lots of things with my friends, on summer Sundays we'd all go to the park and while they played rounders or volleyball I'd sit in the sun making jokes about how that was too much like hard work and I was busy getting a tan or drinking a beer but really I didn't have the confidence to join in and was worried they'd laugh as I got too out of breath running around.

Only as I lost weight did I discover that I could actually exercise and not die.... although MY GOD did it kill me at the time I was stunned to see how much easier it all became as the pounds dropped off and I got stronger. For about year I regularly did exercise DVDs at home and later pilates classes at my local gym but I never felt like I really got to a 'good' level of fitness, I usually took the easier option and was worried about hurting myself (as I frequently did) and thought if I kept at it I'd eventually be able to do the advanced workouts.

But I stopped doing it, and fell back into my old thinking that I don't 'do' exercise and I'm not at all fit! But last week a new studio - MG Health & Fitness opened in Protaras and I was invited for a fitness assessment.

To be honest, I was not really looking forward to it, but I was excited about trying out the large range of classes and thought it was probably a good place to start. I'm pleased to report I survived....even the run up the hill to test my heart rate with ex-army instructor Mike! Overall the assessment went well, but I clearly need to work on my cardio activity as my heart rate is worse than my Dads!

Claire and Mike who run the studio are very thorough with the assessment and also go to great lengths to explain that their aim is to advise you on your fitness goal

s but not to try and sell you their classes. They told me what types of exercise I should aim for to improve my general fitness and achieve the goals I set myself and explain how I could do that with or without them. I do however seem to have agreed to try at least one of every class they run..... including Boot Camp! (this is not one of my better ideas.... did I mention that Mike is an ex-army instructor!!)

Joking aside, I am looking forward to getting stuck into some regular exercise and I love the community feel of the studio, they have a friendly facebook group and I think will be very successful. I am aiming to not just lose a few pounds.. although am looking forward to getting into my best jeans, but also to get stronger and healthier. I'll let you know how I get on!

This is not a sponsored post, I recieved a fitness assessment but have not been asked to write this post, and the views and opinions are all my own.

A big kid at heart! - Introducing John Crane and Sevi toys

2011-11-06T09:07:00.003+02:00

When I was pregnant and we found out we were having a boy, Aaron was very excited about the future prospect of all the 'boy toys' that he could ~~play with~~ give to Leo. On our first trip to Toy's R Us he had looked quite ill when he was faced with the pink aisle! Although I was not disappointed at all with the knowledge we were to have a boy, I did look wistfully at all the lovely girls toys which in my mind seemed much 'nicer' compared to the noisy flashing plastic 'fighty' toys that seemed to make up the boys section.

So I'm pleased to see that John Crane Ltd have joined forces with Sevi to distribute their range of gorgeous handmade wooden toys.

There is just something about wooden toys that I love, they are so much more durable and something kids tend to always come back to after each new 'fad' they get caught up in.

Leo would love these, and they appeal to the big kid in me!

To find out more about them, you can visit their website or find them on facebook and twitter.

I was introduced to the company by Blogmatch and received this gorgeous wooden keyring as a thank you for sharing this post with you.

Silent Sunday

2011-11-06T07:00:00.000+02:00

First Friends

2011-11-04T08:01:00.001+02:00

In the months leading up to our move to Cyprus I spent a lot of time online trying to find out information on all kinds of Cyprus related things and I tried to get an idea of what 'real life' would be like when we arrived. Our apartment was due to be ready the same week Leo was due so it was a big thing to be doing with a small baby - arriving in a country where we knew nothing and no-one.

I often used a very helpful website - Eastern Cyprus Forum and it was on here that I ~~stalked~~ met my first 'Cyprus' friend, Kelly. I was a bit worried she would think I was a nutter (until I met her that is!!!) as I saw a post she had written in which she said she lived in Derynia and that she was expecting a baby in May just a few days before I was and so I emailed her and said 'Hi, me too!'

We became 'facebook friends' and over the months 'spoke' to each other quite a bit. Kelly had her baby ( her 4th) 8 weeks early, (Leo was 2 weeks late) and I'll never forget seeing her in the gorgeous Cyprus sunshine in a tiny white bikini while I was STILL pregnant..... I was not amused!

When we met it seemed like we had known each other for ages as being both addicted to Facebook we knew exactly what we'd been up to. Kelly has 3 older boys and Leo loved watching them all run around like nutters. In the early days I spent so much time round there he probably thought they were his brothers too! I used to joke that with so many kids I could probably just leave him there for a bit and she wouldn't notice.

The boys were great to watch, Steven was always so mellow compared to Leo, I guess that's what having 3 older brothers does for you, Leo used to take everything from him, dummies, toys, biscuits and he usually got it without much fuss. Around the time they started moving though Steven used to get his own back... Leo used to 'commando' crawl everywhere and had Steven used to climb on him and be dragged across the floor as Leo tried to escape!

Kelly had been here 3 years when we arrived, and I have no idea what I would have done without her! She took me shopping, showed me where to go to get Leo's jabs and check ups and loads of other everyday things.

Steven was Leo's very first friend, the only other baby he had ever spent any length of time with, we used to joke about how they would go out drinking in Agia Napa and chatting up tourists when they were all grown up, and how they would drive her older boys crazy as they tried to join in with what they were up to. Unfortunately Kelly and her family had to move back to the UK in January this year so they've not seen each other since then. It's a shame that they will not remember they were once best buddies.

Her parents still live here so hopefully one day she will be back for a holiday, Kelly and I still chat online though so we've kind of come full circle!

Kelly's now got her own blog - Life, Love & Babies - pop over and say hi.

Click the logo above to see what others are looking back on.

Reasons to be Cheerful 1,2,3

2011-11-03T18:12:00.002+02:00

As Mummy from the heart - Michelle is taking a well deserved blogging break she is once again letting me host her lovely 'Reasons to be Cheerful' (#R2BC) linky. This is all well and good but means I've had to have a bit of a think to come up with some, after all a 'I'm miserable, if you're not please link up' kind of post would probably mean I wouldn't get to host again!

But, this is exactly the brilliance of the idea, #R2BC is all about taking time to stop and appreciate the good things and since this linky started back at the start of the year there have been several weeks I have joined in and realised that if you think about it, everything is not all bad and there is always something to be cheerful/ thankful for.

So, despite the fact that we are still looking for a job for Aaron, and our bank balance is rapidly decreasing, the fact that Leo seems to be under the impression that 5am is an acceptable time to start the day and the fact that I cannot fit back into my winter wardrobe, I have decided on the following reasons to be cheerful...

1) Aaron is at home, he is getting to spend a whole lot more time with Leo than he ever has done and Leo is loving having his Daddy around. It also means that it's a bit easier for me to get stuck into my new job and hopefully soon earn some money!

2) The fact that I cannot get into my jeans has spurred me onto lose the extra bit of weight I gained over the summer. Tomorrow I have a fitness assessment with a new local fitness centre and am starting some exercise classes. I'm looking forward to getting back into a routine (and my clothes!)

I tried to find a good side to all my reasons not to be cheerful but I'm struggling to find one in the 5am wake up calls!

However, in under 2 weeks one of my very good friends is coming to visit and I've only seen her once in the last two years so I'm already very excited about that..... not only is coming to see me, but she is coming with a suitcase of goodies for us which is even better!

So lovely people, I'm sure you can be cheerful if you try...... just write a post and add it too the linky below. Next week #R2BC will be hosted by Kate on Thin Ice so make sure you pop over and have a look.

Frequently asked questions

2011-11-02T20:18:00.000+02:00

These days it seems that every web site has it's FAQ's (Frequently Asked Questions) and sometimes they have just the answer you were looking for. Sometime you wonder why anyone would ask some of them at all, let alone for them to be asked frequently! That said they are a great idea, after all it gets a bit dull keep repeating the same answers time and time again.

So, I give you 'Emma's FAQs'...

Why did you move to Cyprus?
Honestly, I don't know! My standard response is 'Why not?' or 'It seemed like a good idea at the time' and I've said that so many times I can't even come up with a reason that sounds good enough to move across the world. That's not to say I regret it at all, it's just looking back I can't believe we had the balls! We didn't really know much about the country when we brought so I think it was pretty much to do with the weather!

When are you coming home?
We are home. This is where we live, we may go on holiday somewhere, and one day we might move somewhere else but right now we have no plans to do either.

Are you going to have any more children?
Probably not, but again I try to 'never say never' after all I never would have expected to move to Cyprus!

When are you going to send Leo to nursery?
I don't know, I get asked this all the time, as he seems to be the only child in Cyprus not in 'school' but we just don't have the money to send him at the moment. I'm not overly worried (or I wouldn't be if everyone stopped going on about it!) as many people have said he's clever for his age, and he is a sociable little man who gets on pretty well with other kids. He's also picking up bits of Greek as he hears them so I think he'll do fine when he gets there.
In answer to the question though, sometime next year, probably!

When is Aaron getting his car back?
Who knows! (The engine blew up just before Christmas last year and since then we've seen it for just 2 weeks - last we heard it is in the capital,Nicosia waiting for something or other)

When are you going to start working?
I've just started working, are you happy now? ;)
Many people (especially in the UK) would ask me when I was going to start work again, it was a bit annoying as it's really quite hard to just find a job out here, unless you are selling shots to drunk tourists or something for 2 euro a night or something daft like that!

Has Aaron found a job?
No, and yes he is looking, no he hasn't gone into every pub looking for bar work, it's November and the season has ended. We are running out of ideas, so if you have any feel free to let us know ;)

How do you have time to write a blog?
I don't do anything else! There is nothing on TV to watch and blogging has now overtaken my love of reading, I get a lot of stick about it but I am almost permanently on my laptop!

Why do you blog?
Another good question but one I find hard to answer. I started to keep friends and family updated and to keep a record of our move but it's developed into a real passion of mine. I blog to document our life and Leo's early years, I blog to let people know that 'we' are here in the East of this island in the Med and I blog because I enjoy being part of a online community of such a varied group of people. In my own little way I'm also trying to provide something for our bit of Cyprus, helping to promote local businesses and bring people together. I don't really have any kind of master plan with it but it's my little bit of Cyberspace and I love it!

Inspired by 'Mama's Losin it' Writer's Workshop

Launch of a new lifestyle

2011-11-01T11:56:00.000+02:00

Since moving to Cyprus I have done much less exercise than I imagined I would, I am the master of excuses and it turns out having a demanding toddler can be quite a good one, that and 50 deg plus summer temperatures kind of puts you off! But I do enjoy exercise when I do it regularly and I've been missing my old routine I had back in England before Leo was born, I just find it hard to get motivated on my own. So I'm very pleased to see that help is at hand!

Sunday saw the launch of a brand new health and fitness Centre in the East of Cyprus, MG Health & Fitness situated in Protaras, MG is run by Claire and Michael and today is the official opening.

Offering a huge range of classes,including Yoga / pilates based activites, Zumba, Bootcamp and Box Fit, with more in the pipeline it means there are plenty to choose from. All ages are catered for and I am very pleased to see a great range of classes for all ages of kids, something that is very lacking in this area of Cyprus.

When I arrived in Cyprus I mourned the fact that I had left a multitude of varied and affordable activities behind in the UK. Here there are very few 'Mum and baby groups' or places to go to meet other Mums with young children so I'm particularly looking forward to introducing Leo to 'Tumblin Tot's' later this week.

Along with the classes services offered include Personal training, Sports massage therapy and coming soon will be a weight loss management programme. They also offer a Health and Fitness assessment, a one to one session to determine your current health and fitness level to start you off on the right track,

Verbal assessment on the current lifestyle
Respiratory system check
Cardiovascular fitness check
Core Strength and stabilisation assessment
Postural and flexibility assessment

I have mine booked for Thursday and I'm really looking forward to it.... maybe not so much the results but at least I'll know what I'm facing! Since I reached my target weight again in May, and then stayed there for about a week I've been aware that I need to increase my activity (oh and probably eat less cake!)

Claire & Mike hope to not only assist people in their health and fitness goals, but to create a welcoming and friendly centre for all nationalities to meet and gain a sense of community

For more details of the classes on offer, prices and to interact with the team and other members head over to their facebook group MG Health & Fitness

The MG team.

This is not a sponsored post, I will be receiving a fitness assessment but have not been asked to write this post, and the views and opinions are all my own.

A scary Halloween!

2011-10-31T08:11:00.000+02:00

Living in Cyprus I am very pleased to avoid most of the 'Halloween hype' as I'm not really a fan of 'trick or treating' having never done it as a child and more importantly spending years in the UK trying to avoid the older kids who were only interested in collecting money or 'tricking' (ie destroying stuff), that said it may sound hypocritical but I don't dislike Halloween at all, after all - a reason to party and to dress up, what's not to love!

Last year I went to my first ever Halloween party, at my friend and fellow party/fancy dress fan Sam's. Halloween is Sam's 'thing' and this year she hosted her now annual Halloween party. (Sorry Sam, we'll be back next year,like it or not!)

Sam had done a fantastic job with the decorations, all home-made (you tend not to see Halloween things in the shops here) and everyone brought a contribution to the food table. Aaron and I had made a Ghost Cake and I also made Monster Eyeballs and Severed Fingers.

As a kids party, it might not have been the success that we imagined it would be however! It turns out a couple of the kids were terrified of the adults dressed up (they had been fine last year so we assumed it would be ok!) - oops!

In typical Leo style, he wasn't the least bit phased by the adults wearing very odd things, he looked bemused until I explained who they were and then ran off to play! He is used to seeing lots of photos of us in various costumes though, he looks at one of Aaron in a full devil costume and says 'oh Daddy, what you wearing - ah its red devil!)

Maybe next year we shall leave the dressing up to the kids!

Silent Sunday

2011-10-30T08:54:00.000+02:00

We all love cake!

2011-10-28T22:22:00.000+03:00

Last year I told you all about my first Halloween party it was held by my friend Sam and it was great fun. Tomorrow we are going to do it all again so in a tradition we seem to have created for ourselves Aaron and I had a cake to make!

Last year we made a 'Pumpkin cake' and so we've been debating what we could do this year. Aaron suggested a skull but I thought we shouldn't peak too early so we went with his second idea a Ghost cake.

It was a joint family effort as Leo 'helped' me bake the cake and then as usual I handed the decorating over to the arty one.

Leo and I made a simple Victoria sponge mixture but as we needed a lot we tripled the standard recipe.

300g castor sugar
300g butter
6 eggs
300g self raising flour

I usually cream the butter and sugar first, adding the egg then the flour gradually but Leo didn't agree with that method and chucked it all in before I could intervene, including the eggs without cracking them! I retrieved the whole eggs and then I blitzed it all with the whisk.

I cooked 3 cakes, one big one and two smaller ones as that the pans I have, it wouldn't matter what you cook it in as the cake gets broken up anyway.

Once cooled we broke the cake into small pieces and mushed it together with butter cream (that is a technical term when cooking with a toddler). We modelled it into a 'ghost shape'

(Butter cream - 280g butter, 560g icing sugar 4tbsp milk)

Using ready to roll icing Aaron then took over (my patience with rolling that stuff does not last long) and draped it over the cake.

It was quite tricky rolling the icing so it was big enough as it made it quite thin, several times it broke as we tried to get it on the cake. Eventually we rolled it on cling film which made it a lot easier to transfer. Using a small paintbrush and some black food colouring he then painted on the eyes and the mouth.

Now all we have to do is work out how we are going to transport it to the party tomorrow in one piece!

I'm not the only one who loves cake though -

Check out Jenny's I Love Cake linky, This month's theme is Halloween.

Flashback Friday -

2011-10-28T11:10:00.000+03:00

This time two years ago we were rapidly disappearing under a pile of boxes, we had booked our one way flights and it seemed that every day brought more 'goodbyes' as we gradually got closer to our leaving date. We had spent many months gradually packing our belongings for shipping to Cyprus and my poor parents lost the use of their conservatory for a very long time (and their garage, spare bedroom and hallway!) It was a huge task debating what to take, what to leave and who to give it too or how to sell it, along with trying to work out what we needed for Leo as he was then only 5 months old.

We said goodbye to our things at the end of October and I remember standing on the driveway, in the cold and that horrible drizzly rain as I watched the van with our beloved boxes drive away. I stood there for a long time watching the now empty road thinking.... 'Oh my god, that's it - it's all gone now' I could hardly believe that I would next see it all in Cyprus, after 2 years it was actually all going to happen!

I did say a little prayer to myself that it would all reach our new home in one piece, and it did, bar one small dish that got broken - not at all bad in the scheme of things!

Last year I looked back over our first year in Cyprus and said it did now feel like home. Two years on and it's hard to imagine not being here. I do miss my friends but realise that life moves on and you can't always stay as close as you'd like. I have made some fantastic friends here and also know that however long it may when I speak to my 'old' friends it feels like we haven't been apart.

Linked with Cafe Bebe's brilliant Flashback Friday

A bank holiday, and a little bit of history

2011-10-28T07:02:00.003+03:00

I have always been interested in many things to do with recent history and among other things the second world war, particularly what was happening 'at home' whether that was in the UK, France or anywhere else in Europe. What has fascinated me and often left me in awe is the sacrifices people made and how everyday life was affected for everybody.

Today Cyprus celebrates another Bank holiday, but it saddens me that so many British expats here do not even realise that it is, and even if they do they possibly have no idea why it is so. I am making this lovely country my home and so I wish to learn all I can about it's history and people and I think it is important to find out these things.

Today, October 28th is Greek Independance Day, or 'Ohi Day' as it is often known. It commemorates the day in 1940 when the then Greek prime minister Ioannis Metaxas rejected the ultimatum from Italian dictator Mussolini that the Axis forces should enter and occupy Greece or else face war.

It was alleged that Metaxas replied with single word 'όχι' ('ohi' meaning 'No)

On the morning of October 28th the people took to the streets shouting 'ohi' and from 1942 it was celebrated every year as a public holiday in Greece and Cyprus.

The Greek resistance was formed following the invasion and is said to be one of the most effective resistance movements in occupied Europe. It is estimated that 311,000 people, 4.3% of the population were killed, among them 140,000 dying of starvation and almost one million Greeks were left homeless but the bravery of the nation changed the course of the war and also gave the Allies the first land victory of the second world war as Italy's inability to capture Greece enabled the British to win major victories against Mussolini's forces in North Africa.

I found a very informative and interesting post on One man's Blog, here is one story of the resistance...

One of the most touching episodes of the early resistance took place just after the Germans reached the Acropolis on April 27. The Germans ordered the flag guard, Evzone Konstandinos Koukidis, to retire the Greek flag. The Greek soldier obeyed, but when he was done, he wrapped himself in the flag and threw himself off of the plateau where he met his death.

Ohi day is now honoured in both Greece and Cyprus with student and military parades. When Leo is at school he will be taking part and marching in these parades and I will be pleased that I understand the significance of them.

“Until now we used to say that Greeks fight like heroes. Now we shall say heroes fight like Greeks.”
-Winston Churchill 1941

Facing foward

2011-10-26T22:04:00.000+03:00

They say you can tell a lot from looking at someone's face but I've never been very good at reading people myself, Aaron is a good 'reader', especially when it comes to me, I suppose the 16 years we have been together help quite a bit there!

This photo was taken on my wedding day just before I left my parents house, and I wonder what he would have thought had he been there at that point. This is one of my Mum's favourite photos of me from the day.

The process of getting ready had not gone entirely to plan, the hairdresser was late and I although I'd imagine getting dressed in a leisurely fashion with my bridesmaids helping me and then making my 'entrance' as I came down the stairs, it ended up that I jumped into my dress and ran downstairs hoisting it up and asking someone, anyone to zip me up!

The photos felt rushed and I didn't feel entirely comfortable but I do remember this one being taken. The photographer asked me to look into the garden but not smile - I was a bit bemused by this at the time. When I look at this photo I can picture the view from the window and remember it seemed I was looking at it for a long time. It was the first time I paused for breath and realised that this was it - I was a bride, I was not 6 years old and wearing a net curtain on my head, it was my day and I was about to take a big step forward.

This week's Gallery prompt is Faces.

Music therapy

2011-10-24T21:51:00.000+03:00

Once upon a time I listened to music a lot, in the car, at home and even if I had the TV on it would usually be on a music channel during the day. Nowadays due to the protests of a certain little man it's usually restricted to in the car, and even then it has to be 'not big loud Mummy' On the rare occasions I end up indoors on my own, the first thing I do is to turn my ipod on and listen to my favourites.

I miss my music and wish I'd not stopped listening to it so Leo was in the habit of hearing it and might not moan about it so much. Music can do so much for your mood and there are so many songs that really mean something, it drives Aaron mad that I have a story for nearly every song in my collection!

I've been tagged by Real Housewife Lauren to take part in Mammywoo's Music Therapy which is all about reminding ourselves how much we love our music and sharing the songs which really mean something to us, those whose lyrics could have been written just for us.

The idea is to pick '3 beautiful songs, 3 different bands, 3 sets of lyrics which touch you in anyway you want to show' There have been many songs over the years that have helped me and if I think about it too much I'll never be able to pick just three, so I'm going with the first three that come to mind.

Lighthouse Family - High

I actually haven't listened to my first choice in years, it's not even on my ipod! (this will now be rectified very soon). This song came out while I was living with Aaron in ~~our~~ his first house, I remember sitting in my bedroom (I had my own room which at various points in the on/off relationship years I actually used as a place to sleep!) listening to the radio and this came on.

The lyrics instantly meant a lot to me....

When you're close to tears remember
Some day it'll all be over
One day we're gonna get so high
And though it's darker than December
What's ahead is a different colour
One day we're gonna get so high

And at
The end of the day
remember the days
When we were close to the edge
And we'll wonder how we made it through the night
The end of the day
remember the way
We stayed so close till the end
We'll remember it was me and you

'Cause we are gonna be forever you and me
You will always keep me flying high in the sky of love

Don't you think it's time you started
Doing what we always wanted
One day we're gonna get so high
'Cause even the impossible
is easy when we got each other
One day 'we're gonna get so high

People used to tell me I was stupid to stay there in that house with Aaron, that it was going nowhere and I should move on, as I sat in my freezing cold bedroom (I will never forget how cold that house was) I smiled to myself and thought eventually, somehow it will all work out.

Lionel Richie - Stuck On You

We had this song on the intro to our wedding video, it was my idea and I don't really know if Aaron agreed because he likes the song, if the lyrics meant as much to him as me or if he didn't really have a preference but I chose it because not only is it a great song, the lyrics are absolutely perfect for us.

Stuck on you
I've got this feeling down
Deep in my soul
That I just can't lose
Guess, I'm on my way
Needed a friend
And the way I feel now I guess
I'll be with you till the end
Guess I'm on my way
Mighty glad you stayed

I'm stuck on you
Been a fool too long I guess
It's time for me to come on home
Guess I'm on my way
So hard to see
That a woman like you could wait
Around for a man like me
Guess I'm on my way
Mighty glad you stayed

Oh, I'm leaving on that midnight train tomorrow
And I know just where I'm going
I've packed up my troubles
And I've thrown them all away
Cause this time little darlin'
I'm coming home to stay

and finally one of my favourite songs of all time, I have blogged about it before, along with my favourite 'Hold On' by Wilson Phillips but I couldn't leave it out of this.

John Parr - St Elmos Fire

This was a song that Aaron downloaded for me, telling me I would love it. He was right but it was only after it had been accidentally playing in the background of the video walkthrough of our apartment that it really meant something to me.

It became the soundtrack to Cyprus and I played it again and again in the lead up to our move. I then didn't hear it for a while but the day Aaron started work I stood in our apartment with a 7 month old baby wondereing what the hell I was supposed to do all day with no car and no friends and put my ipod onto shuffle and this played, I held Leo and stood on the balcony looking at my 'new horizon' and realised that this was indeed where my future was lying.

Growin' up
You don't see the writin' on the wall
Passin' by
Movin' straight ahead you knew it all
But maybe sometime if you feel the pain
You'll find you're all alone
Everything has changed

Play the game
You know you can't quit until it's won
Soldier on
Only you can do what must be done
You know in some way
You're a lot like me
You're just a prisoner
And you're tryin' to break free

I can see a new horizon
Underneath the blazin' sky
I'll be where the eagle's
Flyin' higher and higher
Gonna be your man in motion
All I need is a pair of wheels
Take me where my future's lyin'
St. Elmo's Fire

Now to tag some fellow bloggers to join in if they wish...

Mum Reinvented

Expat Mum in Portugal

Midlife Singlemum

Tales from Windmill Fields

Discovering Cyprus - Derynia Folkloric Museum

2011-10-24T08:24:00.003+03:00

When you step off the tourist trail in Cyprus you realise there are many little hidden gems to be found, one of these is in Derynia, the village where we live. The Derynia Folkloric Museum is a picturesque old house full of traditional Cypriot items including many household and farming tools.

The museum is run by a friendly local called Varnavas, who grew up in the house and decided to open it up to the public and share his collection of now historic items. He is happy to tell you lots of interesting information and you can tell he genuinely enjoys sharing his family and countries past with the visitors. From telling you about all the photos of his large extended family lining the walls to opening up all the cupboards and pulling out delicate hand made linens and traditional clothing to show you nothing is too much trouble.

It is even possible to get married here at the museum, either in the traditional bedroom or in the courtyard. I've been to the museum twice now, and I'm sure I'll be back with various visitors of ours in time.

Entrance to the museum is free but donations of any size are very gratefully received, as is a short message in the guest book. There was actually a sign on the wall with (very low) entrance prices but Varnavas told me he forgets to charge and wants people to come and see so the money is not so important!

For more photos, visit my 'Discovering Cyprus' photo pages

Silent Sunday

2011-10-23T07:10:00.001+03:00

Flashback Friday -

2011-10-21T08:00:00.001+03:00

I was very lucky as a child I got to go on several foreign family holidays over the years. I went to Malta twice as a toddler but the first holiday I have memories from was in the early eighties to Estepona in Spain, although I do wonder how many I'd have if it wasn't for the large amount of photos we have!

I learnt my first foreign word on this holiday which was 'Helados' a very important word for a young child to know as it means 'ice cream'. I remember coming back to the villa one day to find the doorstep so covered in ants it looked completely black! I remember that my parents forgot to give the villa key back and we realised once back in the UK, I kept that key (Casa 228, yep I can still remember what was written on it!) for years and years as my 'best ever' souvenir.

Most importantly I remember walking through a tunnel (I assume under a road or something) with my Dad after he had had a drink or 3 when he announced he was "a little 'tiddlypoo's" and he was dancing around and singing - I thought it was brilliant and really funny and remember laughing as my Mum tried to tell him off while he was still singing and pulling faces at me when she turned round!

I know we spent each morning at the beach, before the sand got too hot to walk on and then the afternoons at the pool. It was by the pool that my Dad happened to snap me messing around with a rubber ring...

Looking at the second picture I remember how the inside of the ring scratched my head as I put it on!

It turns out that this penchant for inflatable head wear runs in the family as last summer I found Leo attempting the same look...

Linking up with Cafe Bebe's Flashback Friday

Reasons to be Cheerful 1,2,3

2011-10-20T22:25:00.004+03:00

The last few weeks I've not been able to cobble together a post to take part in Michelle's Reason's to be Cheerful linky, in fact I may have struggled to fill a 140 character tweet on the subject! I decided last week that I would take a leaf out of Michelle's book though and find things to be cheerful about even when it appears there are none... but then...

I got a job!

Not only did I get a job, I got a good job!

After Aaron lost his job back in August I started looking for work, the plan had always been for me to do something (had no idea what, I was looking for a flash of inspiration!) but once Leo was in nursery, and we had to wait until we had the cash available to send him - catch 22 I believe!

As we were both out of work I was now looking for anything at all, but it's very hard. It is the end of the season so many people are now out of work for the winter so the wrong time of year for job hunting. I've not worked here in Cyprus so far and I don't speak enough of the language so far to even hold a conversation let alone use it in work.

I've always heard the phrase 'its not what you know, it's who you know' and that is so true here in Cyprus, yet again word of mouth has helped us out, and I'm now working for Century 21 Cyprus as a property consultant. It's part time, from home and I can pretty much set my own hours - perfect!

I've also been over to Michelle's blog - Mummy From the Heart to read her #R2BC post and discovered that she has included me in her list of bloggers which make her cheerful...... *does happy dance around the room*

Listography - Keyword searches

2011-10-18T08:26:00.000+03:00

One of the things that continue to fascinate me about this blogging lark is the not just the amount of readers I have gathered along the way but also the search terms that lead people to my blog. This weeks Listography asks for our Top 5 Keyword searches so I couldn't resist going to find out what they were.

1. Barney / Barney & friends (and loads more Barney related phrases)
This is my highest viewed post by far, and it was a previous Listography entry - Top 5 Annoying Kids programes. It's had over 10,000 more views than anything else!

2. What makes a house a home
The second highest search at the moment, which would take you to my recent post about Leo's new 'Big boy's bedroom'

3. It's all Greek to me / Rosetta Stone (and many Rosetta Stone related terms)
I've been writing about my progress learning Greek and reviewing the Rosetta Stone software.

4. Meniere's Disease
This pleases me, and I hope this post may have helped someone This was written by my Mum who suffers with Menieres disease but copes very well and really tries not to let it affect her life too much.

5.Alethea's story
I first wrote about Alethea Ayres and how she was battling Malignant Metastic Melanoma when her and her family were trying to raise money to send her to Germany for treatment. Unfortunately I had to write another post when she sadly lost her fight against it some months later

Other popular searches are mainly Cyprus related, but there are some real random ones which make me smile and a couple which intrigue me....

'5 things you can't do on the Isle of Wight' - really? Why search for things you CAN'T do?
Drunk people skinny dipping in Agia Napa - Ok, I've been drunk in Agia Napa but I've not been skinny dipping.....yet!
'Can you just move to Cyprus' - yeah why not!
'Get your cape out of the laundry hamper' ?????
'A matter of a mile and a mole' erm, what??

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Silent Sunday

2011-10-16T07:00:00.003+03:00

Birthday celebrations

2011-10-14T08:27:00.000+03:00

What a busy birthday week it's been.... I had a nice birthday 'day' which was mainly filled with cake! It started off with toddler group to which I took fairy cakes, followed by a lovely home-made cake from my Mum and then the arrival of my friend with an armful of doughnuts.

In the evening, my lovely parents babysat and paid for us to go for a meal, we tried a new restaurant which had been recommended to us and had a lovely time.

Last week I looked back over my childhood birthdays, and on the day itself my Mum wrote about my actual birth day so this week I thought I'd share some memories of a couple in between!

I love any excuse for a celebration and birthdays are a VERY good one so I've had some outstanding (usually) drunken celebrations. From my 18th birthday party where I tried to punch Aaron (and missed!) for getting me a stripper after I had made him promise not to, to a alcohol free weekend on the canal when I was pregnant I have many to choose from.

One of the best has to be my 25th..... a 'School disco' party just before it became a very popular theme for everything!

Part of the enjoyment of a party for me is the organisation and my friend Larisa and I had great fun planning this one, from the food to the music. We had iced gem and party ring biscuits, loveheart sweets, drumstick lollies and 'flying saucers' Mini sandwiches with the crusts cut off and cheese and pineapple. Vodka jelly and ice cream and many more piles of sweet and sickly treats... I'm surprised people were not ill!

We decorated with tons of balloons and a selection of my old school photos around the room, and of course everyone dressed up for the occasion.

It was perfect timing as we were about to move from the house we were living in and had very little furniture so we cleared the whole room and took up the carpet. It gave a perfect dancing space and never have I seen so many people dancing at a party in a house! I have no idea what time the party ended but I do recall doing the conga down the road sometime after midnight - I think it was a good job we were about to move out!

Linking up to Cafe Bebe's fantastic Flashback Friday, head over to hers to see some more great memories.

Autumn leaves Toddler Craft

2011-10-13T13:50:00.000+03:00

I'm slowly getting better at doing more craft activities with Leo. I always imagined I'd be doing all kinds of things but in reality it turned out to be harder than it looked! I've never been known for my patience and this is not helpful when it comes to dealing with toddlers at the best of times, let alone when you add paint, glue and instructions into the mix!

I love the ideas over at Emma's Lunch, and the way the crafts are themed to the seasons so I thought I'd try an autumnal themed craft. My inital plan was to take Leo to the park, something we haven't done for a few months due to the heat, to collect some leaves, but I realised the flaw in the plan as soon as I looked out the window... the trees are all green and the few leaves that are around are the wrong type!

Not to be outdone I printed some leaves to colour in,

I gave Leo just 'autumnal colours' red, brown, yellow and orange, along with a green as he was a bit bemused that trees could be any other colour! I explained that leaves change colour and fall off the trees and talked about England and woods and playing in piles of leaves, he listened with a surprising amount of interest!

The following day we went for stage 2 of the plan which also went pretty much to plan. Before we started I cut the leaves out and added some leaf shape pieces of orange and yellow paper. I then drew a tree trunk and branches on a large sheet of paper, gave Leo some glue and he got sticking.

It went well, I encouraged him to stick them on the branches or on the ground rather than all over the place but mainly let him get on with it, this is usually my problem when it comes to doing things with him - I'm not good at things not being done 'right'.

We stuck the finished tree on the fridge and he was ever so pleased with his creation, the next day he wanted to do more so we added a few more leaves and he did some colouring on it, I tried to persuade him to just stick but then realised it was his picture and it didn't really matter, especially as I'd already taken a photo!.... I did only give him the 'right' colours to use though!

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