Who, Me? 101 Purely random things about me ...

"Know Thyself" - Socrates

This is something I've wanted to scrapbook for a long time, so I decided to write it and post it here so I would have a record of it. Plus, since joining blogspot.com I have some new readers (thank you and welcome!!) so it's a way of letting you guys know what really makes me tick! It has taken me forever to come up with my list of 101 random things about me ... I think I could have done it in 30 minutes had I not bothered to take the time to reflect and think about the things that really make me... well me really!!! It has been a lot of fun and at times surprising too. I've also admitted things I didn't think I would!

1. My greatest fear is to be a bad mother.
2. I love shoes but you probably guessed that already.
3. I am a firm believer in the concept of karma and what goes around comes around.
4. I procrastinate way too much. If I spent less time talking about what I need to do and more time doing it … I’d probably get more done.
5. I am a pessimist. I’ll always think of the worst case scenario to be prepared because then when it doesn’t happen it’s a bonus.
6. The glass can be half full AND half empty. If you only fill it half way then it’s half full. If you fill it up and drink half, then it’s half empty.
7. I love being around my friends and family but am a solitary person at heart.
8. I am a night owl and I hate mornings. My natural body clock would prefer me to sleep 3am-11am and miss out Monday mornings completely!
9. I am fairly patient but have a melting point and when I lose my temper I tend to lose it big time.
10. I sometimes feel like I should take more risks in life.
11. I HATE to be cold. In winter I have to be snuggled up in a big jumper with a duvet and my fluffy slippers.
12. I am a very creative person. I always try to think out of the box.
13. I love to cook but I am not very good at it!
14. I hate HATE HATE monotony.
15. I once almost lost the end of my middle finger on my left hand when it got shut in a sliding door. It had to be stitched back on at the hospital and just missed the nerves!
16. I can write a website in HTML code by hand from scratch in notepad.
17. I remember my dreams quite often.
18. I probably drink too much wine!
19. I believe in ghosts and the spirit world. I’ve had personal proof and that’s all I need.
20. I am a solitary white witch but don’t get the time to practice as much as I would like.
21. I prefer to use organic, herbal and natural remedies and sometimes do candle buring rituals and meditations.
22. I love the sun but my skin doesn’t! I am fair skinned so I burn really easily and I have to use a high SPF cream. Any more than 20 minutes in the sun and I’ll burst into flames – well, okay that is an exaggeration but I burn badly!
23. I rarely ever forget things.
24. I love words and it can be hard to shut me up once I get going!
25. I work best under pressure.
26. I am an utter perfectionist about most things!
27. I am good at everything I do because I don’t do things I am not good at.
28. The only thing I have ever failed is my first driving test.
29. I didn’t start learning to drive until I was 30. I passed second time.
30. I am much more stubborn than anybody else you will meet!
31. I worry FAR too much.
32. I am really REALLY indecisive.
33. I have an unhealthy obsession with time. There are not nearly enough hours in the day to get everything done and I am constantly looking at the clock, but I do not wear a watch!
34. I have been a vegetarian since I was 12 years old.
35. I have been pregnant 4 times but I only have 2 children.
36. I am very judgemental although I try hard not to be. It is probably my worst fault.
37. My eye is automatically and uncontrollably drawn to anything that is pink or sparkly!
38. I am no longer afraid of the dentist. In fact I think I am in love with my dentist!!
39. I played the violin and piano at school and passed up to Grade 5 with distinction.
40. I used to be in the chamber choir at school and we toured the cathedrals of Northern France as well as many of the chapels and cathedrals in the local area.
41. I LOVE the magic of Christmas! I don’t know what I’ll do when the kids grow up and I no longer have an excuse!
42. I hate to be bored and I am never bored! I always have lots of things to do.
43. I don’t have a favourite season. I try to think about it but I like them all for different reasons. Spring brings the warmth of the sun and puts colour back into the garden, summer is all about having fun and being outdoors. Autumn has such beautiful deep colours and I love the fallen leaves & pumpkins … and Winter is just such a magical time when it snows.
44. I am WAY too hard on myself – I push myself a lot and have very high expectations of myself.
45. I had many jobs before I discovered candle making in 1997 and set up my own business in 2000. To name a few … customer services, telesales operator, data-input, silver service waitress, barmaid, receptionist, chambermaid, cleaner, clothing store sales assistant… and that is just some!
46. I have never broken a single bone in my body.
47. Ideally, I am an environmentalist and try to be “green”, but I am decidedly NOT the outdoorsy type!
48. I LOVE the TV show “Friends” and I was so sad when the series ended. I have the DVD box set of all 10 series!
49. I hate tomato ketchup but love tomato soup!
50. I take my coffee black with no sugar. It has to be DECENT coffee and I don’t drink tea.
51. My star sign is Cancer and my personality is so very true to the traits that I should be the poster girl for the sign!!
52. I am very easy to please and find amusement in much that surrounds me.
53. I love people watching and imagining the life behind the face of a stranger.
54. I do this in the rare moments of boredom I have in my life waiting in queues etc.
55. I can eat a donut without licking my lips once.
56. I love the idea of living in a big house in the rural countryside with a roaring open fire but could never do it. I need my central heating, I need civilisation and a shoe shop within at least 10 minutes drive!
57. My own home is my favourite place in the world.
58. I don’t hold a grudge, but I do remain wary for quite a while.
59. Manufactured and commercial romance means very little to me. I would much rather see something spontaneous and romantic for no reason like a little note left on the pillow or a bunch of flowers “just because” rather than a gift and card on Valentines Day. Having said that though, if a partner doesn’t give me a gift on VD then there is trouble!!
60. I can touch type and my fingers sometimes type faster than I can think!
61. I rarely eat breakfast.
62. It is absolutely essential that I spend at least some time each week on my own or I get cranky and neurotic.
63. According to a web test my IQ is 135 – above average but definitely not genius!
64. I have no time for people who try to convert others to their views. We are all each entitled to our own opinion with absolutely no right to force it on other people. I am a vegetarian but raising my children as meat eaters until they are old enough to make their own decisions.
65. I am hooked on eBay.
66. I was horrible to my parents as a teenager and hope that my children treat me better!
67. I miss my Dad dreadfully. The day he died was one of the hardest days of my life.
68. I don’t enjoy swimming. My skin does something weird and goes mega crinkly (more than “normal” people!) after about 10 minutes and really hurts.
69. I crack my fingers and wish I didn’t, as I know it will probably lead to arthritis when I am older. It is a nervous habit and I don’t realise I am doing it at the time.
70. I used to be a very jealous person but I am a lot more secure in myself these days.
71. I am a lot closer to my mum since my Dad passed away and regret not being closer to him before he died.
72. I am not a quitter. When I set my mind to a task I see it right through to the end.
    Maybe that’s why I am still a smoker.
73. I have a very small circle of very good friends.
74. I am the eldest of two children and I always wished I had an older brother.
75. My memory is pretty good but I am useless at remembering people’s names unless I have actually had an interesting conversation or interacted with them somehow.
76. I “do” hats. You could literally put ANY hat on my head and it would suit me.
77. I am a very fast reader and get through books very quickly.
78. I have more photographs than I will ever get around to Scrapbooking but I am trying my best!
79. I don't scrapbook as much as I should these days.
80. If I could change one aspect of my physical body, I would have a smaller bum.
81. I am very drawn to the moon and love to look at it.
82. I hate flying. I have flown 4 times (8 if you count there and back!) to Tenerife, Lapland, Malaga and New York. I view flying purely as a means of getting to places I want to go, but I do not enjoy the experience at all.
83. I can read tarot cards. I have only read my own cards once and I will never do it again. I was with an ex and we were looking at buying a bar together with another couple - some friends. My ex asked me to do a reading for him to see what the cards said. It was basically a negative reading saying that it was a really bad idea and not to do it. I read my own cards because it was so spooky and spot on. Bear in mind that the cards are cut in half, twisted around and shuffled thoroughly three times before being laid out ... I got the SAME cards in the SAME positions. I'll never read for myself again.
84. I still have the key to the very first place I ever lived by myself.
85. I don’t really like the colour bright yellow! I don’t have anything against it, it just doesn’t suit me in clothing (pale complexion) and it’s not a colour I’d have on my walls at home.
86. I’d choose true and deep love over money any day.
87. I’d also choose freshly baked chunky cut bread & olive oil over chocolate.
88. I could never “dance like nobody is watching” because I can’t dance. Period!
89. I am a “list” person. I make lists of things I need to do and religiously check them off.
90. I have been diagnosed with depression and been on medication.
91. I have an uncanny feeling that I will move house two more times before being finally settled.
92. My "uncanny feelings" - or woman's intuition, or psychic vibes - call them what you will... are usually scarily right!!
93. I sleep on my stomach with my right leg up at a right angle.
94. I am a closet blatant closet exhibitionist.
95. My given name is Wendy. Dee came about when an ex used to call me “Wend” which used to irritate the crap out of me. I used to call back Wend-DEEEEEE. He then started calling me Deeeeee and it just stuck! I’ve been Dee ever since.
96. I have bought 5 new pairs of shoes this week. That's not a normal week though!
97. I drive with the music LOUD and the window open.
98. I love white knuckle rides! I’m growing kids so I’ll have someone to go on them with me!
99. I am totally 100% natural blonde but I did dye my hair chestnut brown once to see what life was like on “the other side”
100. I HATE getting up early in the morning when I don’t need to, but always find I achieve a lot more that day!
101. I am training as a kickboxer. At the time of writing this (Sept 2007) I have my brown belt and am working towards my 2nd brown. I have 3 more grades to go until I get my black belt but this will take around 18 months to achieve.
102. I listen to music all the time. Whether it’s the radio or a CD I usually have something playing.
103. I rarely watch TV.
104. People who cannot spell properly should carry a dictionary and USE IT!
105. I have a scar on my forehead where I tried to walk through a glass door when I was a toddler.
106. I have a scar on my lip from where I fell off a doorstep when I was 18 months old.
107. I totally don’t blame my mother for any of the above!
108. I'm so compulsive this was BOUND to go over 101 things!

Last Minute Panic! ARGH!!

Why did I wait until the very last minute? I've known for the last few months that come Monday 1st October, the children have to be in Winter uniform. Megan's summer uniform is just a blue gingham dress, and she has plenty of black/grey skirts & trousers so no problem there, and Nathan has polo shirts for summer uniform and he got bought new trousers in September. I'd already dug out their ties and figured I was ready for it ... and yet it was only today ... Sunday 30th September that I could be bothered actually had the time to go get them the proper white school shirts.

So I thinks to myself I have to do a bit of shopping anyway, I'll take myself off to Tesco as they do the whole back to school range and I can do my food shopping at the same time. Genius! Unfortunately it seems everybody else had the same genius idea as well.

It was almost shocking watching the scramble to get the age/size that you wanted before anybody else could pick it up! Seemingly sane and normal people were glaring at perfect strangers for daring to reach out for the same pack of shirts as them! You were apparently okay if you had a child age 3 or 13/14 ... but anything in the middle? Forget it!! I left the crowd to battle over the couple of sets of age 8 shirts (that for a second I figured my kids aged 7 & 9 could share until I could find more!!) and went over to M&S!

It was still the same type of scramble in M&S, but definitely a more refined scramble!! I must have looked very harrassed as an assistant came over to me and asked if she could help. I just about managed to blurt out "boy age 6 and girl age 9. Need shirts. Last minute. Help." I think she took pity on me because she pointed out that there were actually a couple of areas where they had the school shirts hung up and took me over to the less crowded one!! I managed to come away with ONE pack of 3 shirts for both kids. Phew! (note - I need to buy smaller sizes for Nathan than his actual age as he's so small and skinny - it's not me getting his age wrong! haha!)

Note to self - next year buy their Winter school shirts right at the start of the summer holidays and then go to Tesco/M&S on the day before they have to be in Winter uniform and smile smugly to myself as I watch the foray from afar.

Small boy wise beyond his years

We all have days like it don't we ... don't we? The ones we REALLY don't like to admit to where it is all fubar right from the moment you open your eyes. Yesterday morning was like that. I was stressed because I had an afternoon candle party to get ready for and that threw me because I usually do parties at night, so I was already feeling tense when I woke up.

I hadn't slept well either - so by the time I stumbled downstairs all bleary eyed I just exploded into a fire breathing dragon (FBD). Now I should explain that there are two extremes to my style of parenting. On one extreme you have Mary Poppins where it doesn't matter that you broke my expensive vase darling because I know it was an accident and you didn't do it on purpose. On the other extreme is the FBD that will give time outs and instant discipline (namely removing Nintendo DS and banning all electronic gaming for the day!) BECAUSE I had already told you eleventy hundred times NOT to play with your damned ball in the house!! Most of the time I exist in a fairly happy world living nicely in the middle of my two extremes!

So anyway, yesterday started as an FBD day. I asked Nathan what he would like for breakfast and he replied chocolate toast. Off I go on my merry way (not quite in full FBD mode yet) to pop the toast in the toaster and to get him his ADHD meds. NOW I also need to explain that my being sick in the mornings for the last few months is brought on partly by smell and toast is one of the worst culprits, so I don't do toast unless I REALLY have to!!

I ask my dear son to come and butter his own toast to make it easier on my rapidly increasingly queasy stomach and then he announces that he doesn't in fact want toast, tells me he never ASKED for toast and that he actually wants coco pop rocks cereal with NO milk. All of this is while he is bouncing up and down on the sofa, upside down with his feet on the wall and he is totally losing it because it takes about half an hour for his ADHD meds to kick in!

I just completely lost it. For no real reason either - I just let rip in full FBD mode yelling at him about wasting food and then instantly felt awful. I said sorry straight away, sorted out his breakfast (coco pop rocks with no milk) and then managed to calm the FBD down by having a coffee in the conservatory with some peace and quiet ... gradually returning to normal mummy mode.

When I went back into the lounge, I went straight over to Nathan to give him a big hug and the conversation went something like this ...

ME: Nathan, I am really sorry that I shouted at you but I was angry because you had asked for toast and then you wasted it.
NATHAN: Mummy, we've already talked about it and you've said sorry. I've forgiven you and we don't need to talk about it all day.

Talk about a HIGHLY astute little boy there! Gawd there's more than a thing or two I could learn from my 7 year old son!!

Saturday Shmaturday

If you work hard and do your best,
You get the sack like all the rest.
But if you laze and mess about,
You live to see the job right out.
The work is hard, the pay is small,
so take your time and **** them all!
For when you're dead you'll be forgot,
Don't try and do the bloody lot,
Or on your tombstone, neatly laquered
These three words ... "just bleedin' knackered".

I don't know who wrote that, where I heard it or why I remembered it! I *think* it was on a plaque in the bathroom while I was growing up. Anywhoo, it sums up my day today!

Candle parties are like a cross between the devil and the chocolate cake section at Harrods! I LOVE them as it's guaranteed sales ie guaranteed MONEY, but gawd do they knacker me out! I have to be 100% the hostess and 100% smiles not matter how ratty I am feeling and I have to be sociable and happy for several hours ... and that kind of mental exhaustion just wipes me out for the rest of the day!

Back into work tomorrow to replace everything from today and re-box it all up ready for another party on Monday night! Woohoo mama may get to buy more shoes this week!!

Ohh and I MUST post about what my VERY astute son said to me this morning when I was all stressy and turned into a Fire Breathing Dragon ... but I'll save that for tomorrow when my head is working better!!

The Friday Five

I am a lil bored and just surfing around the web for inspiration and I found a site that poses five interesting questions for you to answer every Friday. Here we go ....

What was the last thing taken from you without your permission?
My sanity? No? Okay then .... eeeek I can't think!

Who was the photographer the last time a picture of you was taken?
Ahh now that’s an easy one! That would be Miss Megan! Since she got her own digital camera she’s taken loads of photos and is really enjoying it. It’s a hobby I’m happy to encourage! Megan took this photo of me and my mum at my sister's recent wedding reception.


When were you last taken by surprise?
Well it’s not technically the last time I got surprised because I actually can’t remember when that was, but the nicest surprise I think I have ever had was one Mothers Day when the hub was out of the house, so not around to do things for/with the kids like dads are sposed to do. I was woken up somewhere around 6.30am with a bowl swimming in milk and a solitary weetabix lurking at the bottom and a glass of water (because we aren’t allowed to use the kettle Mummy!) It was the sweetest thing in the whole world because they thought of it all by themselves.

When were you last taken for a ride (interpret literally or figuratively!)? Literally … gawd it’s been a while since somebody actually took me for a drive just for the sheer enjoyment of being out somewhere together!! So figuratively it would have to be the way I do find it hard to say no sometimes and let people walk all over me. Note to self to stop doing that so much.

Where were you the last time you wished to be “taken away from all this?” Oh stop it – you know I secretly blatantly secretly wish that every day!

Mama got 3 pairs of new shoes today :-)

I love eBay so much! I spent a few hours the other day surfing eBay for pretty stuff and bought a few pairs of shoes -- err and some other stuff but for today the postie bought me 3 new pairs. I left my camera at work otherwise I'd take piccies of them for ya!!

Pair #1 A fabby pair of denim mules with a 4" wide heel on them. They have little bronze studs over the denim ... very "smart/casual" with jeans or would look great with a short skirt!! Pair #2 A smart pair of black high heel shoe/boots perfect for customer facing work when I'm suited and booted! Pair #3 I LOVE these ... wedge heel beige sandals. These are actually designer shoes with a £99 label still on them that I got for ummm a fiver! These will look gorgeous with a long skirt now we're coming into the Autumn.

I didn't know which to wear first after I finished work! It's always nice to have something pretty on my feet when I pick the kids up from school! Anyway .... so what is Dee wearing on her feet right now? My big fluffy slippers! It's cold today!!

Oh it's like Christmas!!!

So I decided to move my blog over here to blogspot because it is easier for people to leave comments here. Over on vox.com I love the community, but it forces people to sign up to vox before they can comment and I ended up with a ton of emails instead! Soooo here we go! New home and I'm still messing around with the wallpaper (ie the design template and colours) because those of you who followed me over from vox will know how totally anally retentive I am and it all has to be perfect!!

Edited to add I like the colours now :-)

Link to old posts

Just so it's written down somewhere (and for anyone who is actually that interested!) My old blog is at http://lessonsinmylife.vox.com/