A Matter of Choice

After promising to get back to blogging basics what better timing to join in with the Gallery for the first time in goodness knows how long, with the perfect prompt for the moment 'A younger me' Last week I had the surprise of my life when Aaron came home late Sunday night with my friend of 33 years!  I last saw her on my very short trip to England in February 2013 and the other time I went to the UK in August 2010. I constantly badger her to stay in contact via skype but hadn't thought for a second she would be able to actually come and visit, with family, work and voluntary commitments, plus the cost of flights, and the fact that she'd never traveled before, I always thought it was a far off possibility. Let me share with you, the younger 'us' From pre-school, to primary, secondary and then (briefly) college we did it all together. Five children between us, with her eldest and my youngest having almost a 17 year old age gap, makes no difference, a ...

Everyone who I have met since moving to Cyprus knows me as Leo's Mum, or Aaron's wife, or maybe they don't really know me as either, just that slightly mad blogger who's all over facebook! They  don't know the 'me' that my friends from the UK know, the one that could stay up past 10pm without falling asleep mid conversation, the one who could dance to something other than the Hokey Cokey or the theme tune to Thomas, the one that could drink a lot more than a couple of vodkas before falling over. I am more than just a Mum, in fact once upon a time I was a superhero!  (and a very slim one as well!) Once upon a time I used to go out at least twice a week, I used to love a good drink and could cope with the hangovers. I loved nothing more than a good party and lived for the weekends. I would dance until I could hardly walk, or stay up all night talking rubbish and playing silly games. I ate kebabs on park benches and had random conversations with peop...

'When I look back now, that summer seemed to last forever' I'm not talking about the ACTUAL summer of '69 you understand, that's a decade before my time but hopefully you got that from the first line! This week's Flashback theme is 'Summer' - I've looked through loads of photos from many years and could not decide on which to use. (you'd think I might have thought of that before I set the theme but you'd be wrong!) Summer's always seemed long as a child due to the long summer break from school ( I wonder how much different they will feel to Leo with 3 months off when he gets older as opposed to 6 weeks!) and  I don't remember the weather being that bad either!  I had photos in my head to use of my childhood summers - playing in the sprinkler and paddling pool or day trips to the beach but I just couldn't find what I wanted. Then the song popped into my head and I realised I wasn't looking for a photo taken in summer ...