Q & A – a meme

I’ve not done one of these kind of posts for a little while so thanks to Donna at Redhead Babyled for tagging me. And without further ado I’m just going to get right down to answering the questions…

Where in the world would you most like to be right now?

I’d like to be in our forever house, somewhere in the north of England, with views of the countryside out of the window and a real wood fire burning, cosy on the sofa cuddling up with Toby and Barry watching White Christmas. Or failing that, I’d be quite happy to stay where I am, with Toby sleeping upstairs in bed and my lovely husband next to me on the sofa….as long as I didn’t have to go to work tomorrow!

What do you love most about having your blog?

I love having somewhere I can just write about whatever I feel like, and even better some people usually read it! I love that I’ve got a record of most of Toby’s life so far, in both words and pictures, which I don’t think I would ever have bothered doing if I wasn’t blogging about it. And I’d be lying if I didn’t say I love all the fantastic products we get to try out and review.

Who is the person that you most admire?

This is such a hard question to answer but I’m going to say my dad. My dad has always worked so hard to provide for his family. My whole life he has gone to work all day and then comes home and works some more. He’s 65 now and not looking anywhere near close to retiring. He’s also one of those people who can literally do anything he puts his mind to – he’s super-clever and works with computers (to be honest I’m not entirely sure what he does!) but he’s also the master of DIY, even though he lives 250 miles away and I’m now married with my own family I still get him to come and visit when there are jobs need doing in the house! On top of all that he’s also massively involved with the Scout Association and has been since he was a little kid. He does all sorts of things for Scouts, all for no payment or reward, other than the satisfaction of giving young people opportunities that they wouldn’t get anywhere else. In short, my dad is awesome!

What keeps you awake at night?

Toby! He’s still got a cold and has been teething FOREVER so we still get at least one wake up a night if not more. Apart from that nothing keeps me awake at night, I’ve always been a champion sleeper and I’m asleep within minutes of turning out the light.

What is your all-time favourite breakfast?

It has to be French toast (or eggy bread as we call it) with crispy streaky bacon and maple syrup! We first had this delight on our honeymoon in America and now reserve it as a special treat we only have on holiday. I think there are probably more calories than I’m supposed to eat in a whole day in one serving!

Which song makes you smile every time you hear it?

Up all night by Take That, or in fact pretty much any Take That song really. I’ve been to all the Take That tours since they got back together and I love them (so much I even forked out £95 for a ticket to next year’s tour!)

If you could go back and give one piece of advice to your fifteen year old self, what would it be?

Probably don’t start smoking and don’t drink so much! You’ll spend so much money that would have been better spent on something else and waste half the weekends of your twenties nursing a hangover. (Luckily I did learn these lessons eventually but I would have been easier (and cheaper!) to find this out when I was 15 instead of 25).

And just in case you were interested, here is a bit of a blurry picture of me when I was 15 (I was head girl at school and we had to wear those gowns for assemblies and formal school events!).

uniform photo

 

So there you have it, a bit more about me – thanks again Donna!

And now I need to tag a few more people, so if you fancy it it’s over to you…

Aby at You Baby Me Mummy

Vicki at Ellie Bear Babi

Kate at Family Fever

Hannah at Budding Smiles

Versatile Blogger Award

Versatile Blogger AwardSo the very lovely Donna at Redhead Babyled has been kind enough to nominate me for a Versatile Blogger Award. I’m fairly new to this parent blogging lark but I do try and write about a variety of different things and hopefully there’s something to interest everyone.

The rules to the Versatile Blogger award are as follows…

1)  in your post, be sure to thank the blogger that nominated you
2)  write seven facts about yourself and nominate seven other bloggers
3)  you must use the versatile blogger award image on your post

Right then – seven facts about me…

1) I was born and brought up in the Vegas of the north – Blackpool! My parents still live there so I visit regularly but I hated it growing up and I can’t imagine I would ever go back to live there. I did once spend the night at the top of Blackpool Tower though which is pretty cool!

2) I started dancing when I was four years old and until recently still went to dance classes. I have appeared on stage in over 20 pantomimes and musicals; the most recent being The Sound of Music in 2012. When I was a teenager I danced in two summer shows in the Tower Ballroom (the very same one where Strictly Come Dancing is filmed when they go to Blackpool!)

3) I have a degree in French and Social Sciences (Economics and Social Anthropology) from Manchester University.

4) I lived and worked in France for six years on and off – from 1998 to 2003. I mostly worked on campsites but also did a ski season and spent one memorable winter working in an industrial laundry!

5) At the age of 31 I decided to retrain as a teacher and I have been a French teacher for the last three years. I am currently studying for a Graduate Diploma in Spanish so that when I return to work from my maternity leave I will be able to teach both languages.

6) I love the USA. I’ve been on two American road trips; one from San Francisco to LA to The Grand Canyon and then Las Vegas on my own in 2010. I had just met the man who was to become my husband before I went and we kept in touch on Twitter and email while I was away. By the time I came back and we met up again we had already fallen in love! The second road trip was for our honeymoon in 2012. We went from Boston to Vermont (just so we could go to the Ben & Jerry’s factory!), through upstate New York to Philadelphia and then down the New Jersey and Maryland coast to Washington DC before flying home. Amazing! I would love our next road trip to be to Memphis, Nashville and the Deep South… but we might have to wait a while before that one!

7) I play the ukulele.

And now I have to choose seven other bloggers to nominate (and try and find those who haven’t been nominated already!). Here goes…

The Laughing Owls

My Petit Canard

My Life As A Mummy

Teacher2Mummy

You Baby Me Mummy

Northumberland Mam

Tea Is The Answer

And many thanks again to Redhead Babyled for nominating me!