Annual Check up

I have just returned from having the dreaded annual mammogram (glad to say, all clear). The indignity of it all, never mind how incredibly uncomfortable it is, it still never ceases to amaze me, I mean if "they" were meant to look like pancakes, surely this is how "they" would have been made. Surely a more effective way of scanning them can be found rather than squeezing "them" with what looks like a plastic Tupperware box to the point the you think "they" are going to burst and then, just for good measure they squeeze just a little more. Then they have the audacity to tell you to hold your breath, who on earth can breath normally when "they" are squished flat, and passing out seems like a good option at that moment. Thank goodness it is something we only need to go through once a year.
Till next time,
xoxo

My quest for the perfectly organised home

What possesses me sometimes, although we sit at the End of March, which is effectively the very tail end of Summer, two weeks ago I embarked on a spring clean. I might just add that my entire house was spring cleaned as little time ago as July (also not spring) last year. Where on earth does it all come from, I am almost convinced someone sneaks into my house each night, moves things around and bring unwanted items with them in order to fill up my cupboards with things I don't need. This could however have something to do with the fact that I have a teenage daughter (but I would never dare to accuse).
I tend to start in one room and work my way through the house, well this time I started in my bedroom, well my walk in closet to be exact, and started to feel very unhappy about how dusty my shoes were getting (one of the pitfalls of living in the country and not having a door to my closet). So in order to keep my shoes from getting ruined I embarked on a project, within a project, to sort them out. I started off by purchasing all forms of cleaning goods for shoes, suede stones & brushes, dry clean spray foam, and little polish sponges. each pair of shoes were then cleaned and spruced up back to their former glory. In the mean time I had found out from a colleague at work that you could purchase see through shoe boxes, so I promptly bought five packs of 10 and a two pack of boot boxes. Let me tell you, a person has to be very dedicated to want to use these boxes, as they come flat packed and are really sturdy plastic with very sharp edges. Each box requires each edge to be folded then assembled, as beautiful as they turn out, I am seriously swithering whether kirsching curtains or making shoe boxes is the most evil of the two. My wonderful husband (and I say that with no malice or sarcasm), was having none of this and refused point blank to get caught up in my madness (as he referred to it), Jordy however very kindly assembled ten of the 52, leaving me 42 of these torture boxes to assemble, if I can tell you that for the first time in my life my fingers cramped so much I couldn't move them for ages afterwards. I then placed each pair of shoes delicately into their new home and stacked them like an excell spreadsheet onto my shelves. I might add unfortunately the number of boxes I got were not sufficient so I had to place an order for an additional 30 boxes, which have now been sitting looking at me from the bottom shelf of my closet for the last week and I just can't seem to bring myself to build the remainder, I am seriously thinking of bribing Jordyn with extra pocket money to do it for me, as much as I want the closet finished, the thought of cramping fingers just doesn't enthrall me for some reason. I think Martha would be very disappointed at me right now and I hear her voice in the back of my head, whispering "you will be happy with the result when you are done, now get going !". So on my quest to once again spring clean this house, I will get going again tomorrow (this isn't procrastination, I have friends coming for dinner tonight and I have to whip up some yummy meal, thinking of lasagna, green salad and ciabatta bread). Will keep you updated on progress.
Till next time
xoxo

A very dissapointing meal

Last night we took Jordyn-Leigh to Tokyo Sky (being both Jordy & my favourite restaurant), to congratulate her on her exam results. An absolute standard when I go there, is to start off the evening by ordering a Screaming Geisha (which arrives in two glasses, one of Japanese sake with a raw oyster and spring onions, the second glass of tomato juice, vodka and a raw oyster), so I promptly place my order, only to be told they don't have oysters. Considering probably the first third of their starters contain oysters, this was of concern to me.
I ordered Prawns in phyllo pastry, Jordy ordered prawns tempura and Grant ordered beef Carpachio. Our starters were lovely as usual.
Then came the main meals, I ordered the Connoisseur Platter (slightly cooked sushi, i.e may have tempura batter around the outside, or is wrapped in parma ham), Jordy the Sushi platter for one and Grant ordered some spring rolls and salmon maki. My platter, that I have had on several previous occasions usually comes on a large platter with each kind of connoisseur sushi having it's own sauce flamboyantly painted on the plate. This time however it was all crammed onto a small plate, no sauces, absolutely nothing like it has been in the past, was also told they had no calamari nor line fish so they would have to substitute certain of my meal.
Problem with the kind of night we had, (did I mention we were the only people there) was that it immediately screams they are in trouble. No consistency between meals, they don't have the ingredients for a major part of their menu and when it does arrive it isn't as it should be. For me unfortunately, Tokyo Sky has gone from being my top restaurant to being one I won't frequent again.
Till next time
xoxo

Exam results term one

Well, who is as proud as punch? Jordyn-Leigh's exam results are rolling in and I am so exceptionally proud of her. Her hard work has paid off and she can see it in the results she obtained. So much so that when she received her maths marks she burst into tears. Goodness me it has been an uphill slog to get to this point. Funny how when the penny drops, they see that you actually do know something about life and aren't a complete imbecile put on this earth to just embarrass them. Teenagers, I ask you.
Very Very proud of you my angel. Keep up the great work !!
Till next time
xoxo

Living in the country is not for sissies (1)

We first decided to move out to the country side in 2007. We felt the need to move away from the hustle and bustle, of not having to worry about the noise our parties made, of not having neighbours so close that they could see everything we did, and the constant traffic noises we had to contend with. We yearned for the open space, the fresh air, being able to watch the sun set.

We dreamed of growing our own vegetables and also of having both Grant and my parents being able to live with us on the same property, however giving all of us enough space to ensure we all could have our privacy.

So off we went searching for our perfect country home, wow there was some really scary places out there, so we gave up looking for the perfect place and started looking for what we could turn into to our perfect place.

On Mother's Day 2007 we walked into a 40 year old farm house, which I might add had every kind and colour flooring that one could imagine, from slasto to tiles to carpet to wood and all in some very scary colours. It was a very strangely laid out house, in fact the estate agent described the house as being "so wrong, that it is right". Well long story short both Grant and I decided that this was something we could do something with, signed on the dotted line and held thumbs for it all to work out.

After some hiccups from the sellers side, all was approved and the house officially became ours in August 2007.

Now proud owners of a 40 year old farmhouse in some serious need of tender loving care, we took Mum & Dad out to see our new house and although they did the obligatory "this is so lovely", we found out later they were actually thinking, "what on earth possessed them to buy this". Little did we realise the adventure we were about to embark on.
1st visit with Mum & Dad

I know now what mum was thinking.

Long weekends

Shew what a week, the boss and two collegues hopped on a plane to London on a talent search trip, leaving me to look after the home front at work, been a while since I have been that hectic, and truth be told I really enjoyed the hustle and bustle of my days, just didn't enjoy working so late and only getting home to Jordy at such late hours. However all that aside, I am just winding down from a really lovely weekend. On Friday , Mum and Dad drove down for Dad's six month check up with the Oncologist. Dad was given the all clear, so we had cause for celebration, so off to Cedar Square we went, met up with Donna (who I must say is looking great and recovering nicely from her op) and celebrated with numerous cosmopolitans and dirty martini's (well I did anyway), Mum was a little more controlled sticking to mai tai's and Dad his draft beers. Picked up Italian on the way home and had a great time catching up with the family, in fact too much of a good time as my sister and I sat up solving the worlds problems till 2:30 am, it was really nice to just be the two of us for a change. I took Mum, Dad and Jordy to Melrose Arch on Saturday and after some shopping went for lunch at a wonderfull little Italian bistro, who's food was glorious. Had Donna & Jason round for Tappas on Saturday night.

Said goodbye to Mum and Dad on Sunday morning as they drove back to Gabs, relaxed for a bit then had our good friends Cally, Ross and CJ round for drinks and then off we all went for dinner to the Spur. Jordy ended up sleeping over at CJ's so Grant and I had a lovely lazy morning, until Roxy our maltese poodle came in from the garden looking decidedly like a ball of mud, so into the shower I got with her, to clean her, then handed her to Grant, (we make a really good tag team, as within 10 minutes Roxy was good as new). Then went to pick up Jordy, got lunch from Dros on the way home and then snuggled up to watch DVD's. Now that is my kind of weekend. So good for the soul, great times with family & friends. All rejuvenated and ready to face the new weeks challenges.
Till next time
xoxo

I have a new project

Whilst watching a movie called The Proposal (Sandra Bullock & Ryan Reynolds), the two main characters take a trip up to his family home in Alaska for Grammy's 90th birthday to a small village called Sitka. This movie peeked my interest in visiting a country, that had never before crossed my mind. So much so that after a very quick family discussion it has been decided that Alaska it is, probably not this year but sometime next year. There is something about Alaska that just seems to be so relaxed and untouched that appeals to me and surprisingly to my teenage daughter as well. So, (as anyone who has travelled with me can attest to, all trips must be planned with military precision), the planning now begins. Will keep you updated.
Till next time.
xoxo