Seven Quick Things, Episode 17: DOOOOOM.

1. Yesterday, the UK voted to leave the European Union. I (along with pretty much everyone I know) am both furious and petrified. Most of the progress in workers' rights, including maternity and paternity leave, over the last 30 years has come through the EU. It looks like we may lose Scotland (and good luck to them, they shouldn't have to put up with the results of England's folly). Far-right groups across Europe are rejoicing at the news, which tells you all you need to know.

2. On a lighter note, can anyone tell me who this is?

It's on a cushion bought in Spain in the later 1980s, copyright Cinema Marketing Corporation, so probably a character in some kind of animated film. Any assistance in identifying the beast would be gratefully received.

3. Also this week, Cardinal Arinze has asked us to stop using the word "Yahweh" in the liturgy.  Personally, I've always felt that God has enough titles which can be used reverently, lovingly and respectfully without us needing to make up new words from the Hebrew tetragrammaton, which serves to represent a name which should not be pronounced. Also, the musical value of what a priest friend calls "Yahweh songs" is generally pretty limited, so... no great loss.

4. Our childminder has some pretty amazing ideas for parent presents. Ze Husband got this off R for father's day:

White mug, masking tape letters and drawing-on-mugs pens. Seriously, what a great way of getting a 2-year-old to make something that's actually pretty AND useful!

5. We had some pretty bad news at the end of last week: my parents had their bank account completely cleaned out as the result of a scam. I didn't share the news earlier because it wasn't mine to share, but my parents are keen for people to know what happened to them, just in case it stops someone else from suffering the same fate. The scam is pretty sophisticated, and involves a phone call from "the bank" concerning recent suspicious transactions. The scammers then block the victim's phone line, so that any call they make to their bank to check the details of what's going on goes directly to them. Full details can be found at http://www.which.co.uk/consumer-rights/advice/phone-scams . My parents are both well-educated and not, by any means, elderly. Not only did the scammers take everything in their account (which they used for savings as well as general use), they also took the full arranged overdraft. As my dad actually authorised the transaction (assuming it was a legitimate means of protecting against fraud by transferring funds to a new, "safe" account he'd set up), there is little chance of them getting their money back. Please, PLEASE, if you get a phone call purporting to be from your bank, double-check before you do anything. Before attempting to contact your bank, call someone whose voice you recognise to make sure the scammers aren't still on the line. This HAS to stop.

6. On a more positive note (again) - I keep seeing tiny babies everywhere this week! Es seems huge all of a sudden... somehow, I don't think we'll be stopping at three, but we may need a bigger house first. Four kids in one small bedroom would just be nuts, even for us.

7. The last one is for any desperate Brits out there: all is not lost. Pick a country. Any country...

Linking up with Kelly for 7QT. In the spirit of unity, sharing and friendship across the whole wide interweb, obviously.


 

Seven Quick Takes, Episode 16: In which there is an exciting packing crate

It's that time of the week again... 

1. Ze Husband arrived home last night with a disassembled 6' x 3' packing crate in the back of the car. I was going to take a picture, but I can't find the memory card for the camera (technically incompetent? Me? Well, yes). Apparently, he has grand plans for it, so I suspect our activities this weekend may well involve a screwdriver.

2. The EU referendum is less than a week away, and it's all getting rather worrying. For anybody who doesn't know what's going on yet, I wrote this post just for you. In case you hadn't guessed, we're firmly in the "remain" camp round here, and the Leave campaign are doing a bit too well in the polls for our liking. We just have to hope these people see sense in the next six days, otherwise God help us all - because Boris Johnson, Michael Gove, Nigel Farage and Rupert Murdoch certainly aren't going to.

3. Having bilingual kids can have unexpected advantages, as I discovered yesterday in a hospital waiting room when my daughter asked, loudly, why a rather overweight man "had a baby in his tummy". Thankfully, she said it in French, and the man in question either didn't understand, or was kind enough to pretend not to. Oof.

4. We have ants in our house, which is pretty much inevitable with small children who drop food on the floor and badly-fitting French windows. Mx and R spent a good half hour building houses, mazes and playgrounds for two of them with bricks. I'm starting to have second thoughts about exterminating them (the ants, not the children) - anything that can keep two under-5s happy for that amount of time has to be good.

5. Disclosure: I typed most of this post in the car, then when I got back into signal range, it went all funny and I lost takes 3 to 7. Now I can't remember what no.5 was, so I'll add it if and when I remember what it was!

6. This morning, I made a hot drink AND drank it before it went cold. If you don't know why this is newsworthy, then you probably don't have children. 

7. In other news, I've started trying to create some kind of social media presence for this blog. There's a Twitter button at the top right of this page, and I'm now on Bloglovin, so if anyone would like to follow, that would be very kind, thankyouverymuch, have some virtual cake (now wih virtual calories!). I won't be joining Instagram any time soon (see point 1), but am contemplating a Facebook page. Thoughts?

Linking up with Kelly for 7QT - time to go and see what everyone else has been up to!

Seven Quick Takes, Episode 15: in which my 2-year-old has a girlfriend

The end of last week was a bit chaotic, so this is the first 7QT of the month around here...

1. Yesterday, the childminder informed me that one of the girls she looks after had been kissing R, and he'd been kissing her back. Honestly. Two-year-olds these days...
(I suspect the fact he's only there one day a week gives him an air of mystery, or something. That, and he really is a terrible flirt). I don't think I'm quite ready to deal with a daughter-in-law yet.

2. In other, somewhat similar news, Mx appears to have acquired an imaginary friend. His (or her) name is "melon-l'eau", which is a literal translation of "watermelon" from English to French. The actual word is pastèque, just in case anyone was wondering. Anyway, this friend apparently lives a long way away, and would have to go on a boat to come and see us. I'm looking forward to hearing more.

3. Mx, Es and I went on a school trip yesterday. We went to a wildfowl reserve. They had baby moorhens, which are possibly the cutest baby birds in existence.

The picture doesn't do them justice, but you get the idea. They're like little balls of black fluff with a red beak, and I think I want one.

4. Black Books.  I understand we're about fifteen years behind everyone else here, but how did I not know about this series before? Ze Husband and I have replaced our Friday evening 30 Rock binge (ok, ok, three episodes, any more and we'd fall asleep) with this for the last couple of weeks. For anyone who hasn't seen it, the entire series is available for free (in the UK) on All4. If you like Fr Ted and The IT Crowd, you'll like this.

5. This week, Es has decided that her sister is the Funniest Person Ever. Es is a very (very) happy baby, but she doesn't usually laugh out loud - she prefers to express joy by lying on her back and kicking her legs a lot. For some reason, however, she now bursts into giggles every time she sees Mx. That right there is a Very Good Reason to have lots of children, in my book.

6. My sister is applying for a summer job as... a fairy. No, that's not a typo. A garden centre near my parents' is looking for people to guide children around some kind of enchanted garden exhibit. How amazing would that look on a CV? "Employment history: Fairy". I worked as a house-elf (read: chambermaid) then a stores gnome (read: logistics operative) when I was at university, so it seems like "mythical" jobs might run in the family...

7. There's been a lot of talk about the film Me Before You over the last couple of weeks, so I decided to see what it was all about (not by seeing the film, you understand. I haven't been in a cinema since I went to see Les Misérables with my dad, and before that, it was the last Harry Potter. No, I looked up the plot on Wikipedia). When I got to the end, my jaw literally dropped open. WHAT are these people thinking? Maybe I'm naive, and yes, I live in my own little bubble with limited media exposure, but I just cannot get my brain around the fact that people consider that "romantic" in any way.

On that note, R is requesting "breakfast" (at 4.30pm), so I need to go before he starts helping himself to food. Over and out!

Linking up with Kelly for 7QT. 


 

Seven Quick Takes, Episode 14: in which I am forced to type standing up

Hello Hello! It's SQTday, so... off we go!

1. I'm typing this standing up. This is not due to some new health-thing. It's because I piled all of the junk on my desk onto the chair in a vain attempt to locate my library card, and now I'll have to tidy up before I can sit down again. Given my desk is where all of the odd homeless objects in the whole house go to lurk, the process may take hours, and then it wouldn't be Friday any more, would it?

2.You know how parents hide snacks out of reach so their kids can't get them? (Yes. Yes, you do). We're applying the same approach to our strawberries this year.

 Haha, slugs. I'd like to see you try.

3. This book re-emerged from wherever it's been hiding for the last few years and it made me laugh A LOT.

Dad bought it for Mam in the latter stages of her first pregnancy. Looking at some parts of the story, it's hard to believe Mr Greedy isn't just a pregnant woman.

"I woke up at six o'clock. It was my tummy who woke up first. The rest of me was fast asleep"...

Anyone who's had a case of the third-trimester early morning munchies should be able to identify.

4. Since last Friday, we've all been in various stages of being ill and/or recovering. There appears to be light at the end of the tunnel, but... bleeeerrrrggg.

5. Library fines are embrassing, right? (Yes, I forgot to renew my books on time. AGAIN.)
Unless... what if those (collective) fines make the difference between a library staying open and being shut for budget reduction purposes? People of the UK, unite! Renew your books late! SAVE THE LIBRARIES! ;-)

(On a serious note, our county council is having to shut 35 libraries to meet budget targets. THIRTY-FIVE. So there'll be more unemployed librarians, and more unemployed books. This makes me Very Sad. Even my late return fees - 75p so far this year - can't do much to help that).

6. Three day weekend!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Ah, the possibilities... we probably won't do anything exciting, but the fact that we could makes all the difference.

7. Ze husband has just informed me that we won't be going clubbing tonight. Shame, I was looking forward to wearing my four-year-old's maxi skirt as a dress. With pink eyeshadow. And glittery lipstick. Or whatever you're supposed to do these days. Ah well, maybe next week.

Linking up with Kelly for 7QT. Go! Read! Be happy!




 

Five Favourites: Weight Loss Tips

We've all been there, right? The scales don't say what we want them to, and, well, it's a bit irritating. Thankfully, here are five easy, quick, and mostly painless ways to shed a few of those extra pounds!

1. Pregnant? Go and have the baby. (Please remember I said mostly painless). You may have to wait a few months, but I can assure you, the results will be spectacular.

2. Step off the scales, put down the baby, step back onto the scales. See? A good few pounds lost in under thirty seconds. Fast, effective, and safe. Unless you put the baby down in a snake pit, whirlpool or tiger enclosure, in which case a little extra weight is the least of your worries.

3. Repeat step 2, this time with the toddler hanging off your leg.

4. Remove any and all baby-related gunk from your clothing. Empty your pockets of Kleenex, Lego, coins, keys, half-eaten pieces of toast, etc. You may also want to check your bra for cracker crumbs at this point.

5. Run downstairs to stop the toddler feeding Hama beads, hair elastics or similar to the baby. Repeat step 4 with any junk accumulated in the process. Heck, just take your clothes off. No one's watching.

There, now, doesn't that feel better?

Have fun, and embrace the wobble. (Or the Womble, if that's what floats your boat. I'm not judging).  

Linking up with Bonnie for Five Favourites.