A Matter of Choice

Hello, my long lost blog readers, just when you thought I'd left you all I'm back for a random blog post or two! I'd been quite happy with not blogging for ages this time with the other things that I've got going on, but I was looking up an old post the other day and realised that after all the years of blogging, hundreds of posts, comments, shares etc, that there was no way I could leave it with the last post being about Fruit Pasta   - I mean what a terrible way to go! I thought I didn't have much to update you on, especially as it seems strange to blog about every little thing these days,  but of course we've had birthdays, and the odd day out (although nothing major due to  a bit of a pandemic going on!)    We've both been double jabbed  - ( I don't want your opinions on it, just saying!) and this means we have our 'safepasses'  and can go to shops and restaurants by showing it to gain entry,  however because Leo is over 12 now he has to be ...

 At the end of 2020 I decided on a whim to start a new blog.  Five posts in I realised I just needed to give this one a new lease of life instead of giving myself another blog to run so I stopped it before it had a chance to get going.  So here is the first of the five posts from what was going to be 'Talking on Eggshells'   Many years ago I started writing a blog, it began much like this one with no prior planning and no plan as to where it was going.  I knew nothing about blogs, websites or social media other than how to put a few random pics on facebook.   While I've never gone viral or become a famous blogger, all these years later my blog is still known - by friends, family, neighbours and 'blog friends' worldwide and because of this I find myself always overthinking what I write these days.  I never tried to be anonymous with my blog, and to be honest I'm not even sure I'll be able to pull it off with this one but I would love to be abl...

Despite blogging here for many many years,  at the end of 2020 I decided on a whim to start a new blog.  I thought about it for all of a couple of days, threw a template together and plucked a name out of thin air.  Why? 5 posts in on the new blog and I'm asking myself this very question.  I started this blog way back in 2009 in what now seems like another lifetime,  I've had highs and lows with it since then, times where I posted like clock work, and times where the posts have been few and far between.  There have been many times when I've considered ditching the whole thing, either just stopping or even taking the whole thing offline but I think it's an amazing achievement and I'm quite proud that I'm still going it seems a shame to ditch it now.  I would have never believed you when I started that I'd still be here over 1100 posts later and more than 1.3 million page views.  The thing is, when I started no one knew about it, I had no followers ...

After taking the boys to bed this evening, I suddenly fancied writing a blog post. I've no idea what prompted this idea after all this time (not counting Leo's birthday post, which I felt I should write, it has been almost 7 months!) I decided not to 'over think' it, not to think about what I *should* be doing, to forget the fact I should  maybe do some ironing, or write a work blog post, or many other things. I always wrote my blog posts on the balcony, and I've missed sitting out there in the evening. Now I have a desktop computer I'm always inside and sitting there just feels like I'm working, we also gave up smoking back in February which means we hardly sit there any more. So, what a great plan it was - grab my laptop, get a drink and throw together a quick post - easy! That was about an hour ago, I got my laptop, of course it was dead as a dodo.  Where might the charger be then? I found it, quite happily in the 3rd place I looked. Fab, plu...

Back in the 'good old days' of blogging one of my favourite 'linky's' was Listography over at 'Kate Takes 5' ,   so I was excited to see that Kate has brought it back for a one off to celebrate her 6 year blog anniversary. It's a real blast from the past in more ways than one as we are sharing our top five blog posts of all time.  The first one was easy for me as it's always been my favourite post,  it's only a short one as it was from the real early days, and as you can tell if you read it, the days when I was at home all day with a baby! One day....   I've often thought about updating this,  to reflect the fact that one day I won't be saying 'please stop fighting,  please put your pants on,  get off your brothers head and so on,    maybe I will if I get to stop asking the boys the same question repeatedly long enough to write it! The other four posts didn't come to me as easily but it did give me a lot of enjoyment loo...

It seems that many posts on my blog over the last year or two have had a similar theme but it turns out I'm not the only one thinking the same,   my long standing fellow blogger and friend 'TheBoyandMe' also feels the same.  I've just read her latest post 'I miss my blog' and it struck a cord with me.  I keep saying I miss my blog, but what I think I mean is I miss the blogging days, the time when it was a joy to write and create posts without much (or often any) thought to what I was writing or why, when there was no thought of how I should 'pimp' the post on pinterest or what time to publish and share for the best results,  when I didn't stop to think about what images to use or how I should edit them,   before I was working and distracted by other online activities and when we only had a few Arabic tv channels to watch.  I realise the problem is over thinking,   where once I'd sit down and type as I 'spoke' now I try to think a...

So much for my renewed enthusiasm for blogging and my promises to myself that I would set aside time at least once a week to writing here again.  There is so many things I could write about but I just can't get them from my head onto the page, and then when I get the chance I don't even know where to start! For so many years I've had so much time, I never understood those who didn't have enough time.   Well, to be honest I still kind of don't!   If you want to do something enough I reckon you can always find a way to do it even if it's hard work.   I want to exercise / write a blog post / cook a healthy dinner etc.... but I just don't want to do that more than check facebook or sleep  - it's not that I CAN'T do those things. So the month of May has flown by in a whirlwind of stuff, all good stuff but it's confused me and I could do with a little lie down now. All the things that I would have once written about and now the time passes and t...

I started this blog in 2009 for no reason other than it seemed a good idea at the time, I didn't really expect anyone to read it, I knew nothing about twitter, pinterest, SEO and I had no plan.  Gradually I 'met' other bloggers and joined some linkups and forums, people were reading and I got into the habit of writing regularly, although I've done a few reviews and sponsored posts over the years as and when the opportunities arose, I have only ever blogged for me, for something to look back on one day and as a hobby to pass the time - when you live with only Arabic TV for 4 years you need something! It's been a long time now since the best days of this blog, once Loukas was born, and I started the Famagusta Parents Network things slowed down, and of course in 2014 we started our business, I have often thought about stopping the blog, it seemed a bit silly to be posting once a month or less and then what should I be writing about if its that infrequent? I starte...

It's been a while since I've written an 'About me' post and when I saw this on Mum Reinvented's blog I thought I'd give it a go and kickstart my blog again in the process. Maybe it's an expat thing or perhaps it's because we are close in age but it turns out we are quite similar, I cut and pasted the questions and as I wrote my answers in place of hers there were a surprising amount of similarities!  1. What’s your favourite movie? I'm really not a film fan and I'm forever saying 'No, I've not seen that'  to hundreds of 'must see' films.   It's quite rare for me to see a film more than once if at all so anything I've watched many times has to be classed as a favourite - so I'd have to say Back to the Future, or Shaun of the Dead as the first that come to mind! 2. Favourite movie in the past five years? I'm really struggling with this one, I watch so few films these days(even less than I once did!)  ...

Several years ago I used to regularly join in with a blog 'linky called 'Dear So and So'   where participants got the chance to talk, rant, thank or express themselves however they wished to people, or random things.  Recently my blogging friend Michelle has breathed new life into 'Dear So and So'  and as my blog could also do with some new life I decided to join in once more.  Dear Readers,  Are you still there?   Thank you for sticking around even though it's not as busy here as it once was. I'm spreading myself a bit thinner than I used too but you can also find me blogging at Klik Photo CY now for all things photo related and on my other site the Famagusta Parents Network for all things 'Cyprus' related.  I love all three of my little bits of the internet and like three very demanding and high maintenance kids I try to treat them all whilst loving them all the same amount! xxx Dear Blog, I nearly left it a wh...

People have asked me why I blog and it's a question I still struggle to answer, I like to create a record of things we've been up to, but of course I could have started a scrapbook or even just not hit publish and shared it with everyone. Maybe it  because I like to think that maybe I can make a difference, that is the reason I have run the ' Discovering Cyprus' , ' Birth in Cyprus and ' All Greek to me ' sections on this blog, and why I love running the FPN - I hope it can do some good for the area and help people along the way. I spend a huge amount of time online, between the two blogs, and the other places I write for,  as well as the other things I seem to get myself into to - being on the social team at Slimming World, setting up facebook pages, arranging coffee mornings and fun days, and nearly all of it is of no financial benefit to me  - considering we need to eat and stuff it's sometimes a wonder why I do it all.    But I do, and I love ...

There's no passports or plane tickets involved, I'm not going back to those roots but I am planning to get back to where I started back in the blog world and revitalize this poor neglected blog of mine! Back in September 2009 I started my blog on a whim with my first post ' Do you want to move to Cyprus?'   and a few more surprisingly short posts following it up, Our first trip to Cyprus  ' What if?,  and 'Not long to go'   I think they were probably so short as I didn't really expect anyone to read them!   Another thing then on my ever increasing 'to do' list, I'd love to have a more detailed account of the biggest thing I've ever done, especially why it's still recent (ish) enough to remember it! There was a big break from November until January when I announced we were ' All settled (pretty much)'   and it wasn't until the May of that year that I managed more than 2 posts in one month.  At that point I was yet ...

These last few weeks seem to have passed in a bit of a blur as I attempt to get used to the arrival of the summer season and Aaron's return to work, but despite a rather neglected blog I have so far survived.  I may have lowered my standards somewhat - random tidying up involving hiding mess or moving it somewhere else, far too much time spent by Leo playing on the Wii while I'm cooking/feeding Louka/ cleaning...   but I do have two children who are (mainly) clothed, fed and happy... well minus the teething and tantrum moments! Louka is still not a good sleeper ( there's another blog post there!) and because of this I'm often in bed not long after 9pm. Considering I'm usually just finishing cooking dinner at 8pm or still tidying up it seems like I'm not getting anywhere fast. I have the longest ever list of blog posts in my head to write and I miss being able to keep up with myself! Over the last few weeks I've missed so many of the blog linky's t...

When I started blogging over three years ago I never imagined I was joining a community of such amazing people.  People who may or may not have met in real life but never the less often consider each other to be friends, there are hundreds of parent/ mum / whatever the hell you want to call them, and although they don't always see eye to eye it is nothing short of amazing when they get together and join forces for something. Last month Jennie from Edspire had to face the unimaginable when her 9 month old baby Matilda Mae passed away in her sleep . Although I've never met Jennie, or even know her very well online it I really felt for her and with tears in my eyes read all the beautifully written posts that she has written to help her come to terms with such a terrible thing.   Today was Matilda Mae's funeral and the blogging community have come together to support Jennie and her family in an outstanding way.  Hundreds of bloggers changed their avatars o...