Life is busy. Whether you have kids or not. Whether you have a job you are paid for or a job where the pay comes in the form of kisses and hugs from your kids. Sometimes it can feel overwhelming and that there are not enough hours in the day. There are, you just have to chose wisely how you spend them. Depending on who you are and what's happening for you right now, choosing wisely may mean spending some time in the kitchen so the freezer is stocked up for the week ahead as you know you have a lot on and won't have time to cook. It might mean skipping doing a quick tidy and getting an early night instead because there's a bug going round and you feel like it might have your name on it.
For me, last week choosing wisely was spending time with the kids writing crazy made up stories instead of stressing over making dinner. It was seeing something online that sparked a memory of an old friend and taking the time to write her an email to share that random memory. Our crazy stories had the kids cracking up laughing and we had bacon sandwiches for dinner (who doesn't love a bacon sandwich?). I had a lovely message to say my email had brightened my friend's day.
Too often I think "I'll do that later/when I have a chance/tomorrow" but while life is busy, it is also short. For the most part we can choose how we spend the hours in our day. Next time you have the chance, choose wisely.
Things you can do in 35 minutes.
- Take in a wash.
- Hang said wash on the clothes horse as the predicted "great drying" didn't materialise.
- Have a wee.
- Get changed.
- Log onto laptop.
- Discover laptop needs to restart itself as you have been postponing it for about a week.
- Sigh and make a cup of tea instead.
- Check laptop, still not finished.
- Peel potatoes for dinner.
- Decide there will definitely be more vegetables in tomorrow night's dinner as tonight is burgers and wedges and yesterday was a sausage and a bacon sandwich. May have over estimated how much food would be required last weekend so have a bit of a meat surplus.
- Discover laptop has eventually finished updating.
- Download photos off camera.
- Write a long overdue blog post.
- Realise you need to leave to pick up the kids in 3 minutes and you are only half way through your tea.
- Decide this is plenty long enough for a post and go drink your tea. Got to have your priorities right!
I love my couch. Along with my bed, it is one of my favourite places to be. It is big and comfy and cosy. You can put your feet up and recline the back. Just thinking about it makes me smile.
That familiar lure has taken a sinister turn of late. Now that winter has truly hit and the nights are getting colder and more relentless, it is proving harder and harder to resist the temptation to ditch yoga class and cosy up on the couch under a blanket. I have missed the last two weeks but this week, this week I won the battle to get my ass off the couch and go to yoga. I was exceedingly glad to return said ass to the couch after yoga, making the mental note that while missing two weeks seems fine at the time, it is not so fine the week I actually go back to class. I fear tomorrow will be a day of shuffling stiffness. Damn you couch.
Seriously late with this one and it's so long ago now that I read some of these that I'm struggling to remember them so going to keep it short and sweet.
Holding up the universe - Jennifer Niven
Better than The Fault in Out Stars but have decided I am not a big fan of teen lit.
Not that kind of girl - Lena Dunham
I find her funny if a bit self obsessed. Recognised lots of storylines from Girls.
You, me and other people - Fionnuala Kearney
Was on the verge of giving up on this when it took an interesting turn.
Everyday sexism - Laura Bates
Grim but necessary reading. Made me want to speak up so my kids' generation doesn't have as much of this rubbish to deal with (too much to hope for that they might not have to deal with it at all).
The blackbird sings as dusk - Linda Olsson
A gentle story of three people living in the same building whose lives intertwine.
The heart's invisible furies - John Boyne
A look at how Ireland has progressed in it's attitudes over the years. Makes me glad I wasn't born back than and appreciate that things have for the most part vastly improved.
The secret diary of Hendrik Groen, 83 1/4 years old - Hendrik Groen
Not as funny as Ove but an interesting insight into the life of an older person.
Have you ever had the urge to try something new? To throw caution to the wind and take a risk? Well I'm here to say "Don't do it!! Step back into your old familiar ways and bask in their comfort and security". Recently I have been feeling like I was in a rut so I decided to shake things up a bit by going to a new hairdresser. I had not been overly impressed with where I was going for a while so I thought I would give a local hairdresser closer to home a try. It wasn't a total disaster. The cut, while shorter than I had anticipated, I can live with but the maintenance is a pain in the neck. Having straight hair means I used to be able to get away with washing my hair every second day but short layered hair means I wake up looking like the mayor of crazytown, who has been dragged through a hedge backwards after bumping into an electric fence. Not a good look. So I'm having to wash and dry my hair every day just so I don't scare small children.
At least with a hair catastrophe you can wear a hat. Worse was to come....
My eyebrows were looking a bit woolly and my schedule has been really busy lately so trying to find a slot to book in with the girl who normally does them (who is very popular and hence very busy) was proving difficult. To hell with it, I thought, I'll try somewhere new. In the words of Julia Roberts "Big mistake. Big. Huge". Someone needs to invent hats for eyebrows, sharpish. The right one is looking ok-ish, a bit patchy toward the end but that is normally covered by my hair anyway so not a major drama. The left one? An unmitigated disaster. Not only is it significantly skinnier than the right, it has two really thin parts where she has gone a bit trigger happy with the threading and taken too much away. I've tried filling in the patchy bits but there is not much I can do about the rest...
Anyone know how long eyebrows take to grow back? 😩
