Typecast

Yesterday I had a heartstopping moment.  One of those 'blink of an eye' moments where you are never sure what happened. I work on a business park that is a collection of small roads, small brick buildings full of offices, large warehouses that function as storage and factories and there are hundreds of businesses on the site.  There is a speed limit of 15 miles per hour on the site and road markings are clear, especially when approaching the road that cuts through the middle of the site.  The site sits between two towns and many locals use it as a cut-through between the towns and there is a cycle path/footpath (it runs parallel to the main road and cuts across the side roads) due to the sheer volume of heavy plant traffic arriving on the site.  I had to leave the office to attend a meeting yesterday; nothing unusual - I drove from my parking space to the edge of the site. I pulled up to the junction (a side road, leading onto the main road through the mid...

I'M ON A DRUG... IT'S CALLED "TYPECAST".  It's not available because if you try it you will get addicted to blogging.  Your fingers will melt off and your children will weep over your reduced parenting.   I'm tired of pretending like I'm not special.  I'm tired of pretending I'm not bitchin', a total freakin' blog star from the Blogoverse...  * Oops, sorry.  I have no idea what just happened there.  It was like I went all Charlie Sheen and got TYPECAST BLOOD coursing through my veins.  Which is sort of true... but not really.   *fanfare*  I love recognition for all the hard work I put into blogging, both on the front of the blog and behind the scenes.  Yes, once again I have been nominated for not one but  TWO MAD Blog Awards in 2012.  The " MADs " celebrate the UK's best Mum & Dad blogs and are sponsored, once again, by  ParentDish . I'm really chuffed to have been nominated for " Most Innovativ...

I found this picture on my laptop last night.  It was in a folder of "pictures to sort out at some point" and it was taken the last time my sister came over to visit.  We had a bit of a houseful that day because my dad and his wife were visiting, along with my sister, her two boys, my daughter, her two girls and the rest of the O'Hara clan that already live with me.  Ordering " fish and chips for twelve " caused a raised eyebrow or two at the local chippy but it was great to have everyone round and to catch up. This picture just captures my family perfectly.  My daughter is texting, my eldest granddaughter is blurred through movement, her sister looks on to see what she is doing, my nephew is just about to get up to play with the dog (whose tail can can just be seen in the right hand corner of the picture), my sister is trying to take a picture, my other nephew is looking over her shoulder to see what is going on and my husband sits in the middle of all...

I have a three year archive on this blog and there's some fabulous stuff hanging back there that newer readers probably never see.  Why don't you have a browse through this selection that I have chosen for you.   This theme is "Short Stories". [image credit: J Paxon Reyes on Flickr] A Lottery Win? She sat on her faded, aged settee, clutching the crumpled lottery ticket, not daring to let it out of her sight.  She’d chosen the numbers carefully – not the usual birthdays and anniversaries but numbers that she thought would be lucky.  It was 7.30pm on a Saturday and the usual rituals of evening meal, washing up and the pouring of a glass of wine had been conducted.  She was trying to stay calm but she always got jittery at the same time, every week.  Her mind was full of ‘What if’s...’ and she almost couldn’t bear the tension but she knew that was part of her enjoyment of the weekly ritual... or torture, whichever way you looked at it. [ c...

In another life, I power dress in big shoulder pads, have perfect make-up, unchipped nail varnish, gorgeous shoes and drive a cool, but economical, car.  Something like the Volvo V60 , probably.  I holiday in the Maldives and New York and I feature regularly in a glossy magazine such as " Cheeze " or " Hey There! ", with photos taken inside my £2.8 million mansion, naturally. In reality, the alarm doesn't go off in time, I throw myself down the landing, screaming at the 13 year old to get out of bed, splash water on my face, rake a comb through my hair and think myself lucky if I end up with matching shoes.  My family holiday is two weeks in a sunny prison camp where I am encouraged to join in the group pool games and eat chips with everything, including breakfast.  But why am I telling you this? Announcement time!   Volvo have asked me to help spread the word about their competition on Twitter, which is happening on Sunday 27th May 2012.   ...

You may have seen various references to " I'm 40 and fabulous " recently.  I have decided that this is the turning point in my life and I'm going to be more positive.  This also includes finding a 'style' that both looks good and is comfortable.  I'd never heard of Zalando online shopping  before they contacted me and asked me to try their website out but I immediately fell in love with a number of items.  Narrowing them down was the difficult part, especially as I had been after a 'statement jacket' that would see me through the summer. The Review Bit... Their website is really easy to register with and navigate and I initially ordered a jacket, fitted t-shirt and trousers.  Another t-shirt that I wanted was out of stock but Zalando have an email service that notifies you when your item is back in stock.  My chosen items arrived within about three days by courier service.  Sadly, the trousers didn't fit so I had to send them back....

My children in 1999 There was never, ever a moment that I thought I would agree with a Tory Prime Minister's proposal but, hey, I'm also not afraid to speak up about it either.  And this is only "in theory" at the moment. * holds hand up * I attended parenting classes. Twice.  Not because I felt the first time was crap but because they were offered to me due to my circumstances at the time.  And, yes, I do feel as though I benefited greatly from them. I was brought up in a traditional family setting - my dad had a good job, mum stayed at home, we had holidays every year, I was well provided for and I had a good education.  I had a job and a career vision.  I still got pregnant at age eighteen. I was a fucking fantastic babysitter but that was always because there was an end in sight.  Motherhood never came naturally to me.  Of course, I knew that I was responsible for the provision and nurture of my child/ren and I'd fight to the de...

This tough Northerner goes all goes all gooey over our capital city.    My little heart swelled whilst I was in London over the weekend.  I'm such a stereotypical tourist-type and I often think that I would love to live in London but know that would take the shine off it.   I really should have planned the Sunday morning better so that I could have gone off and got snap-happy with my camera but I found a spare hour before I had to head to the station anyway.  I took all the shots that you've seen before a million times but to take that time out by myself was a small luxury in my usually busy life. Here's a few of the pictures that I took.   You can click through to see more on in  my album on Facebook  and then go and have a look at the one I used for  Silent Sunday .  Only me, eh? Geek Alert!   I've added a few to Panoramio (they should be live in the next 24 hours or so).  I hear you saying now, " What's Pano...

Bollocks to the unwritten rule of " never blog about blogging ".  Over the past few days I have probably bored you all with talk of CYBHER .  But, y'know, the reason you get such great shizzle on this blog is because I get off my arse and get do a bit of geeky stuff on the side.  For some strange reason a blogging conference billed as " Geek Is The New Chic " and " Innovate Not Imitate " floats my boat. When one person has an inspirational idea and works though that to bring it to life to hopefully inspire others then I'm impressed and suitably excited.  I am still so energised by everything I experienced on the day and have so so many illegible notes scribbled on bits of paper but I need to make a master list and work though it.   When I saw the schedule, I picked out some sessions to attend.  I was confident I had chosen the ones relevant to me but also saw that some other sessions were "double booked".  I am relying on othe...

Nana, Mum, Oma and myself as a babe in arms. At my christening - May 1972 A few weeks ago I posted about the role of the  Modern Grandparent  - a post that evoked a lot of emotion, especially in the comments. I thought I'd carry that on by talking about my own grandmothers.   My grandmothers were two of the most admirable women you could ever wish to meet. I have lasting, happy memories of them and believe that they instilled this strong will in me where I am certain that I can actually achieve anything I want. Nana (my maternal grandmother) remained married to my Grandpa until Mum was 16.  She was a staunch Catholic woman though and, even after separation, divorce was never an option, but they maintained a civil relationship.  Nana was a smart woman; she was never seen without a jaunty scarf and a slash of red lipstick but she was also a bit forgetful, forever going to the shop and realising that she still had her slippers on.  She suffered dr...

I am SO not a believer in cliches.  Not ever.  But over the past couple of weeks I have been thrown a few opportunities and curve balls that have made me think that, yeah, maybe life does begin at 40. I know who I am.  I know what I want.  I think I know how to get it.  Some of it has landed in my lap.  But I'm at a stage in my life where I have the drive and the support to really go for it and attain great results.  I have a number of visions but I'm not at the wide end of the funnel any more.  I'm heading for the narrow end and managing to filter some of the crap out too.  It's a huge relief. I don't really talk about my "real life work" on here much but a change in my job role has helped me focus in a different way.  And it's totally positive.  I wanted all this to happen years and years ago but I'm a great believer in things happening for a reason.  I now know the reason why it's taken this long for me to get to...

What do you think? Changes Boutique Butterfly Tunic from Simply Be (that's not me in the picture, by the way) Changes Boutique Stud Trim Leggings from Simply Be (really cute stud design on the leg) Boyfriend Cardigan from Simply Be (sloppy and comfortable, a bit like me) Anna Field ankle boots from Zalando (I have fallen in love with these boots)

I hope you all enjoyed my Money Saving Tips post that I wrote in conjunction with My Family Club ?  Now that the UK is officially in recession again I'm giving their website another push this week as part of my collaboration with them. The Family Club has a really easy to navigate website which is packed full of money saving ideas, money planners, recipes, travel tips and vouchers for the high street.  But I'd like to point out their competitions section   (where you can enter to win an iPad  by sharing your top money saving tip!!!) * whispers beind hand * stay tuned for my own giveaway at the end... My mum was an enthusiastic 'comper'.  It was more than a hobby but without taking over her life.  She won big - a few holidays, a year's shopping (in vouchers) for a well-known supermarket - and she won small but the achievement was the prize no matter what the worth.  She loved competitions such as "complete this sentence in 15 words ...

T ough   W onderful   E xtreme N urturing T ender Y earning O utgoing N atural E xtraordinary