Domestic Goddess

Yesterday I was (briefly) (very briefly!) a domestic goddess. It's good to know that my training finally paid off after all these years ;-)

So what constitues a domestic goddess? Well, in this house yesterday it involved:

(1) the kids being fed and bathed and ready for bed

(2) the dishes in rather than on the dishwasher

(3) the kitchen, conservatory and downstair bathroom being cleaned and floors washed

(4) two loads of washing done as opposed to lying in a heap on the bathroom floor

by the time the other half struggled home from work.

For those of you who, having read this, are concerned about my well-being, I'm sure it has only been a temporary blip, probably down to a recent change in medication (the sooner I get off those pills the better!) To be honest already I feel I am returning to my normal service levels.

I'm Back!

I haven't been able to blog for some time now, as I haven't been able to find my keyboard under the pile of rubbish that has accumulated on my desk! Major tidy-up today, and lo and behold! There was my keyboard, just where I'd left it ;-)

I see my social experiment was a complete and utter disaster; well I guess it does prove one thing - people are not keen to post messages on blogs. It was worth doing just to get the one friendly 'hello!'. Thanks Steve :-)

On the other hand, the wedding was a fantastic success. What a day - glorious sunshine and great craic. The bride (who I can no longer refer to as sister-in law (to be)) looked stunning, and the groom didn't look too bad either! The service was relaxed and happy and the meal was gorgeous. But the setting ... WOW!

But I have to say, in my opinion the show was stolen by the prettiest flowergirl and the most handsome ring-bearer ever to perform at a wedding on the 15th July 2006 in the Methodist College Chapel of Unity.

The speech were not a word was uttered

Wedding Speeches;

You either love them or hate them and you can either make them or you can't. This has to be one of the best best man's speeches I've ever heard - from the Bride and Groom's wedding this weekend.

You'll find it here

Experiment - please leave a comment!

I lost the all-singing, all-dancing international people counter because I was too stingy to pay to keep it.

Just as a wee experiment, if everyone who came upon this page, either by chance or on purpose, could leave a short comment under this posting, then I'd have an idea of site traffic.

Just 'Hello!' and where you're from will do.

Please join in :-)

It's been a while ...

... since I blogged with any regularity. I'll say that's because I'm getting ready for the wedding. What exactly I've been doing in preparation is debateable, but it sounds like a viable excuse, so I'm using it :-)

It's 12.09pm, I'm tottering round the house in my pjs and wedding shoes (just running them in) having hoovered from top to bottom, also in my wedding shoes! Mrs Doubtfire eat your heart out. The house is, however, spic and span (apart from my study where I am trying out my new hobbies - it's a bombsite) and I am awaiting the arrival of a futon to accomodate all the sleeping bodies.

The clan from Newcastle-Upon-Tyne arrive tomorrow, that'll be mighty craic, if only there's enough Bushmills Cream to go around. With Grace staying after the wedding, Sunday in this house will be a bit of a bloggers convention, with only the bride and groom missing from the party.

Never mind the queue for the bathroom, it'll be the queue for the computer ...

Yummy Mummies

Rugby camp this week; there I was, dropping mimi-me off, and I couldn't help but notice a few differences between me and some of the other mums.

Whereas I arrived with (most of!) my hair hastily pinned up in a clip, the yummy mums all had beautiful 'set' hairsyles in the very latest styles (not a root in sight I hasten to add) which would have taken me an hour on the straighteners and at least one tin of hairspray to achieve before I had left for camp.

Whereas I was wearing no make-up, the yummy mums had the glow of a recent facial about them, and perfectly made up faces, right down to thick layers of lip gloss that meant as they greeted one other they had to use the traditional 'air kiss' as any contact would have ensured they slid off the other persons face.

And as I squint in the sun, the yummy mums all have the latest designer sunglasses to prevent them from having a furrow on their brow that looks like its been ploughed in, like mine.

Whereas I arrived in a pair of shorts and a t-shirt which I had thrown on me, the yummy mums had all been down to Eden Park (expensive French rugby themed clothing) the previous week to purchase suitable 'going-to-drop-wee-Johnny-off-at-rugby' outfits. Of course it's more than just the rugby theme, there's the added bonus that the shop is part owned by a certain Dr David Humphreys OBE ...

Whereas I arrive in a pair of flip flops (albeit accessorize's best!), the yummy mums are wobbling across the practice pitch in high heeled stilleto mules, with real diamante bits. I'd have broken my leg before I'd even got near the pitch, never mind on it!

And speaking of feet ... whereas my toenails are covered in three week old, chipped nail polish, the yummy mums have all had matching french manicures and pedicures. My fingernails are so bad, I realise the only person I'd be fooling by covering them in nail polish is myself.

Oh, and I need to shave my legs and get my eyebrows waxed ...

Ah, the Yummy Mummy! Not a concept I aspire to; a club I will never be eligible to join!!

(By the way, there's a National Yummy Mummy Week, which takes places from 16-25 September in aid of children's cancer charity CLIC Sargent. It's for such a good cause, even I might try to be a yummy mum .. for part of the week anyway!)

Drought

This posting has nothing to do with a lack of water in our green and pleasant land. It could have been though, as I can't actually remember the last time it rained. Having said that, I can't remember a lot of things, and rainy days are not on my priority list of 'things to remember'!

All that aside, the weather here has been fantastically hot and there hasn't been rain for an inordinately long time (for Northern Ireland, that could be six hours!)

I am referring to my lack of blogging recently, the drying up of ideas worth blogging about in my head. I could have, maybe, blogged about Portugal in tonight’s World Cup semi-final, but since they did the job required of them in the last round by sending England home, I have sort of lost enthusiasm.

Fickle.

Of course, the kids are off for the summer, and that keeps me well occupied during the day doing the taxi service to and from rugby camp and then entertainments secretary for the remaining waking hours.

I've also adopted a couple of new hobbies. Funny, I've had more new hobbies in the last 5 months than I've had in the last 25 years. What does that tell you?? Anyway, these two are going to remain fairly anonymous until such times as I have established whether or not I can actually do them! That's me you see - none of this 'if at first you don't succeed ...' malarkey for me, I'm more your instant gratification type :-)

So, watch this space, and pray for an end to the drought!

Happy Days

:-)

Vindo em Portugal!

Eu não sou um ventilador grande do football, mas eu devo desejar à equipe de Portugese a sorte boa para seu fósforo de encontro a Inglaterra hoje.

Eu estou suportando Portugal para o copo do mundo, mim espero que não me deixem para baixo hoje!

(O picosegundo desculpa por favor meu Portugese terrível, a tradução foi feito por peixes de Babel)