Latvia!

Hey all (though many of you are here with me). The hostel we're staying in has WiFi, which is good because my phone's not actually working as a phone. It's wicked mad skillz as a tiny computer mean I've been able to keep in touch with home, bonus.

Look...vaguely touristy pictures




Please ensure you collect *all* your belongings.





And it's always good to check the rules of the place you're staying.

If our little friend makes it to any landmarks i'll be sure to have photographic evidence.

Now, time for tea.

Up up and away!

I'm heading off to Latvia tomorrow, very early tomorrow, so won't be around next week. A group of us are combining a little break with a visit to a children's charity our friend is involved with out there.

Two of my favourite people are already here and the catching up has already started. Hopefully the rest of the week will leave us feeling refreshed and wonderful.

I'll tell you how it went next week.

Tilting at the hump

Only a week in and the schedule's already slipping! The mountain of mid week felt very steep this week. I'm trying to get ahead/stay on top of things because I'm off to Latvia next week. That can be the thing I love...have plans to spend time with my favourite people.

Gratituesday

I am grateful for my husband. 'Nuff said. He's an lovely man and an excellent balance to me.

Hello weekend!

I'm very glad to be here. Oh yes.

This morning the garden gave me a lovely surprise




Rocket, basil and radishes picked about 3minutes before use.

The eggs and tomatoes are local too, just a bit less local than my back garden. One day, hopefully soon, the eggs will come from there too.

Here's to a happy weekend.

TiLt

Thursday again! This week I have been loving:

Our cat. The way she seems pleased to see me, the way she curls up in unexpected places and sleeps, the way she chases a coat hanger...she's soft furry sunshine who makes me smile

How tidy the garden looks with the lawn cut. I have inverse pride that the grass was so long we scared a frog out of it before cutting.

New challenges at work. I'm trying my hand at event planning and pr.

Feeling better about how I use my time. I've started an accountability journal for myself, to note down when I've done things that make life feel more complete, that is helping me have a more realistic view of what I get up to.

The bloggeroid app I've been using. Most of my recent posts have been tapped out on my smartphone (mini laptop!), curled up in bed. It's a very useful luxury, and feels like a real treat.

What are you loving this week?

Getting over the hump, just

Wednesday is "hump day", its downhill to the weekend from here.

I'm not sure why I picked Wednesday as the day for a texty post as its pretty much the busiest evening of the week(exercise class and church group). I'll see how this part of the posting schedule goes as the weeks go on, it may just not work.

So climbing up the slope this week and making me glad to be past the halfway point has been the head cold I've been fighting and the fact that I've been feeling stressed and pushed for time (nothing new there).

The cold is clearing (yes!) And I had a revelation about the time thing on the way home...Madonna! It would really help if I got a set of those headphones talk pieces and some speech recognition software. I do a lot of thinking on the way home (which led to this idea, of course) but most of it is lost cos I can't write stuff down whilst I'm driving. The wonders of modern technology could make a huge difference I think.

The thought of me driving home from work kitted out like a retro Madonna was quite entertaining too. I tried out the speech recognition on my smart phone when I got in to see how viable the idea was. It thought "apples" was "letter" and "hopefully" was "andrew", so maybe not quite the time saving miracle I imagined!

For the rest of the week I'm going to practising cutting myself some slack (guilt is *not* good, the important things will happen and it doesn't matter if they're a tad late) and trying to snarl less whilst driving. I can be shouty, its not big, clever or pretty.

This weekend I am looking forward to a Macmillan charity party a friend from work is hosting and getting my bike fixed. Have you got anything planned that you're looking forward to?

Ps, if you're around Liverpool on Sat and would like to support Macmillan cancer whilst having a whole heap of fun at the same time leave a message and i'll give you details.

Gratituesday

Hey all, it's tuesday time (though all day I've not quite believed that it is *only* tuesday. Hurry up week and clear off to the weekend!)

Today I am grateful for;

• New cookie recipe from rach - yum! and my lovely husband (phobic of anything vaguley 'healthfoody') liked them too!


• Flexi time at work - mostly because it meant that I could could ease into today as my sinuses cleared


• A Doctor Who audio book to listen to on my way to work


• A very lovely long walk with my husband to explore more of the local area. It turns out that there is quite a bit of countryside hidden away not far from our house at all.


• A potential opportunity that is helping me think about what I really want and why (cryptic but hopefully I'll be able to be clearer sooner)
  
  What are you thankful for so far this week?

Domestic Monday

So I'm starting the new blog schedule well (fingers crossed for the rest of the week).

I abandoned exercise class tonight (I think Zumba and a blocked nose would not make a good combination) and used the time to make some oat cookies. Lovely Rach over at goplacidly sent me the recipe with high praise.

Her directions were much more useful than mine will be...

Step one:
Get stuff,; convince the cat she doesn't like cookies


Step two:
Mix all the stuff together. I had to do some bakery magic and swap the flavour ingredients (dates&walnut) because I didn't have any. So my approximation is almonds and raisins...



Step three:
Bake them, and make sure to take them out before they burn.



Success! Also, it turns out the cat does like cookies.



It's actually only just the time I would leave for exercise class...way to go me. Time for a *little* yoga stretchiness then curling up with a book. I know the best medicine for this pesky cold.

Sunday snaps

Dashing, dastardly, debonair...if you catch him at the right angle




Just a little sewing project last week (literally). Clothes for toys!




What did one snail say to the other? Probably "I hope that giant with the big light doesn't stand on us", the life and times of a doorstep dwelling snail.



And finally, our (long term) temporary living room Scrubs up alright

News Flash - there's a new plan

So a month long break? that wasn't intentional, and my first reaction was that I haven't even been that busy. On reflection though I think maybe I have, especially since my 'normal' is quite full on anyway and as I'm used to it I tend to feel bad if I do less than everything. This came up in a conversation with a good friend recently...it's time to give up on the do everything guilt and cut myself some slack (including going easy on myself if I feel guilty!).

I do think a bit more regularity online is a good thing tho, and combining structure and acountability is the way to do it. To that end I am proposing a regular(ish) posting schedule for Keep Breathing; looking something like this...

Monday - anything goes day, and quite possibly nothing will (to be fair monday tends to be exercise or sewing club and as such is usually pretty busy, but if you're lucky I might get a picture of my latest project up)

Tuesday - Gratituesday, or maybe recipes since we're hoping to try new ones on a tuesday as soon as we have a dining room back.

Wednesday - Hump day (a teensy bit of thinky though reflection on the week so far and what else I'm hoping for now we're all over the hump and heading down to the weekend)

Thursday - Things I Love Thursday (of course)

Friday - anything goes day

Weekends - house projects as and when they happen

Of course this is only a guide, though I do intend to do my best to stick to it, but I won't be letting myself feel guilty if it doesn't happen either!