Liebster Award!

Ok, so this Saturday Smooch entry has nothing to do with wedding planning, relationships or the Milkman. This entry is about me, or more specifically this blog, because it has been shown some love!

Josanne, whose funny and honest blog "My Toddler Rules" goes to show that all mums go through the same things whether they are 17 (when I got pregnant with Half Pint) or 47 (when Josanne got pregnant with Lily, the star of her blog), has nominated me for a Liebster award

What is a Liebster? Well, there's no awards ceremony or gold statue to display on the mantelpiece. Just as blogs are virtual records of our lives, Liebsters are virtual shout outs which any blogger can give to any other blogger with fewer than 200 followers. It's a way of letting them know that someone out there is enjoying what they write, as well as to help them raise their profile a bit and hopefully gain some followers whilst giving them a confidence boost. And being nominated has sure given me a little boost, so thank you Josanne for spreading some love! In order to accept the award, I have some rules to follow. It's kind of like a chain letter, but instead of threatening a curse, this helps to spread the word about lesser known blogs and builds connections between bloggers. Anyone I nominate is of course not obliged to keep the chain going, I just want you to know that I am really enjoying your blog. 


To accept the award, you must complete the following...

• Link back to the blog of the person(s) who nominated you 
• Answer all questions posted by the nominator 
• Share 11 random facts about yourself 
• Nominate 5-11 blogs that have have less than 200 followers 
• Create 11 questions for your nominees 
• Contact your nominees and let them know that you have nominated them

Josanne's questions for me...

1. What does your family think about your blogging?
   On the whole, they are uniformly disinterested. Well, that's not entirely true - Half Pint is quite interested in starting his own after seeing a little of mine. But the Milkman, to the best of my knowledge, has never even followed any of the links I put up on Facebook, either because he's just glad I'm waffling on to someone else or because he thinks he isn't allowed to read it after years of me keeping a private blog. I doubt that Pink Milk, my brother or cousin have followed my FB links either. If they have, they've never mentioned it. And I would probably never open the drama floodgates of letting my mum know it existed, because I've spent my whole life with her making 'jokes' about me writing about her in my journal (sometimes I was tempted just to say something bad to serve her right for snooping!). Dad just wouldn't understand the concept at all, as he's uber private. Thankfully, I've got friends who have told me that they've read it, and have all been really positive
2. What five famous people would you invite to dinner?
   Ignoring the fact that having strangers to dinner, famous or not, is my idea of hell...then I would go for women who inspire me like Beth Ditto, Debbie Harry, Margaret Atwood, Debbie Stoller (founder of Bust magazine...does that count as famous?) and Karen O. And if magazine editors don't count, I'd trade Ms Stoller for Sarah Silverman.
3. You have a day off without the kids, what would you do?
   S L E E P   Actually, I probably wouldn't because lying in bed now makes me feel guilty. Can we make this a day without kids and housework? Cool. Then I would probably curl up with some good music playing, munchies and coffee close at hand, and try to read a book!
4. What was your favourite toy as a child?
   

   

   Monchhichis old and new

   BoBo. Even saying his name makes me feel nostalgic! He is a little monkey doll, a Monchhichi, which my uncle gave me when I was about six, and who I was then inseparable from. He went everywhere with me (which did result in some disasters like being knocked off the side of a ferry on the approach into Venice, but thankfully a nice old man in a boat rescued him for me). I still have him, and noticed that they have recently been selling Monchhichi monkeys again. One in particular which reminded me of Mini Milk...so I couldn't resist buying him! 
5. What is your favourite meal?
   This is a tough one! I mean, there is a reason I'm a lifetime member of Weight Watchers! To eat out it is tapas, to take away it's Indian, but to cook myself...it's probably a tie between a tagine with couscous or Thai salmon with fragrant rice.
6. What is the first thing you do in the morning?
   Try to stop Mini Milk from screaming. He has an uncanny knack of waking up before my alarm, and he starts the day off with a full-volume squealfest. It's a race against the clock to get a bottle into his mouth before my eardrums shatter and the neighbours call social services.
7. What is the best thing about you?
   I can build whole sentences out of swear words. Actually, that's not exactly the sort of thing I'd like on my headstone. How about...I have an incredible sense of direction. Seriously, I'm like a carrier pigeon or something. Which is good, because the Milkman is like a blindfolded bluebottle.
8. Can you remember your first school crush? What can you remember of them?
   When I was about seven I fell for one half of a pair of identical twins. Just one of them. He used to wear Stussy jeans and had a horrifically crispy 'wet look' curtain hairstyle. Unfortunately it was his friend who I attracted, and who for a kid so young was scarily persistent - he sat next to me in class and I had to keep telling the teacher he was putting his arm around my chair. And his chat-up line went something like "my name is Joe Teasdale, but you can call me Joe Testicles." I like to think that is the line he still uses...
9. Facebook or Twitter? Share your link.
   I've actually deactivated my Facebook as I felt it was becoming a bit of a free time black hole. I'll maybe reactivate it if life calms down a bit. I do check up Twitter a couple of times a day though, in an attempt to build my blogging network - I'm @skimmedmiilk
10. Would you ever consider cosmetic surgery?
    If I had the money, I'd get my tummy tucked and my boobs lifted, no doubt about it. Two big babies and some rapid weight loss haven't exactly been kind. I used to think I'd get my nose done too, but I'm kind of used to my face these days. Same with my teeth, though I do want to whiten them to remove years of coffee and ciggies. You only get one life, so why waste it being unhappy with yourself? My attitude is definitely do all you can for yourself, but sometimes diet, exercise and self acceptance only get you so far. 
11. If you ever had a movie made about you. What actor would play ‘you’?
    I'd love Ellen Page to play me. I can be quite sarcastic and dry-humoured, I'm a bit of an outsider and fairly down to earth, which is the vibes I get off her when she is on screen. I'm not as cool or as cute as her though, so it would be nice to have that element of artistic license! 

11 Random Facts About Me...

1. I am writing this tucked up by the poolside vending machines in a desperate attempt to stay cool whilst Half Pint trains with his swimming club. 
2. I broke the second and third toes on my right foot by running into a leather sofa (whilst trying to kill my brother) when I was about 12. They now bend in opposite directions from one another, as if they have fallen out. 
3. I really hate olives. Every few years I decide to be a grown up and try one...and then gag. 
4. I'd love to emigrate to Australia, but I am hopeless in anything above 25°C. 
5. I was nearly left infertile when a GP misdiagnosed two massive cysts on both my ovaries as a stitch. 
6. I am really self concious about my craptasic handwriting.
7. I have enough baking, sewing and knitting books to open my own reference library, but can barely bake, sew or knit.
8. I love to be alone, to the point where I suspect I am really a hermit trapped in the body of a functioning member of society.
9. I love to sing in the car. Full volume.
10. As a kid I used to think I was being watched by the eyes on my posters, so I always got changed in the bathroom.
11. I don't own a single set of matching underwear

Enough About Me, On To The Good Bit
I nominate...(sometimes the number of followers isn't always obvious, in which case I have been judging it by Bloglovin' followers...not a true representation, probably, but it gives me some idea!)

• Alex @ Al's Food and Fitness - this girl is so knowledgeable about nutrition and fitness, and their application to daily life. Reading just one entry from her can motivate and inspire me to try harder on my own efforts. Plus, she's pretty cool too.
• Angeline @ Daft Mama - one of the first mummy bloggers I started to read, and one of the first Scottish bloggers too.  She lives in my nearest city, which is so refreshing.  Her entries are honest, particularly on the subject of PND, and I feel I share a lot in common with her.  And she does this awesome thing of turning her garden into an outdoor cinema...
• Sarah @ Glasgow Mummy - another blogger fairly local to me.  She seems to get that balance between informative/review posts and real life/personality spot on, and because a lot of her posts on places or events are based in my area I find her blog really interesting
• Kat @ AtoZ Mummy - she is a fairly new discovery for me, but I love reading her entries.  Her life is very different from mine in some respects (she is a Muslim convert, for one), but that is something I love about her blog as I feel I'm gaining insight into a different lifestyle.  And she is also very relateable, I get such a good vibe reading her.
• Wally Mummy @ Just A Normal Mummy...though I'm not sure if she really gets under the 200 threshold, but I find her hysterical and more than just a tiny bit relateable too.

I so wanted to add more, but my blog net isn't cast too wide just now (I'm wary of trying to read too many in too little time, I like to digest) and the other blogs I read wouldn't qualify. But if you have any recommendations based on the blogs I've listed, I'm all ears.

(Optional) 11 Questions For My Nominees...

1. Why do you blog?
2. If your blog had a mission statement, what would it be?
3. What do you want to be when you grow up?
4. Name three things in your junk drawer/messy cupboard/room of shame
5. Recomend a blog to me
6. Share a blogging tip
7. Tea and cake, or coffee and biscuits?
8. Who is the crappiest celeb you've ever met? (I met Marty Pellow...dare you to beat that)
9. Favourite childhood tv programme?
10. What book are you currently reading?
11. Babysitters Club, Sweet Valley High or Point Horror?

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Days Out in Glasgow :: the People's Palace and the Tall Ship

Now that I am half way into my second week post-maternity leave, time with the kids seems like a distant memory.  I'm sure once things get settled down and a routine starts to take shape, that won't be so true.  But right now I feel as if any time I get with the boys is focused on getting them fed, making sure they're all set for the next day and chasing them off to bed.

And so as I'm sitting on my lunch break, what better way to perk myself up than to blog about the things we managed to pack into my last two weeks of maternity leave?  I already posted about our trip to Glasgow Cathedral and the Necropolis, and in that same week we also managed to go to the People's Palace and the Tall Ship.  
The People's Palace is a fairly new find for me.  Unlike Kelvingrove, Scotland Street School or the transport museum, this wasn't a place I went as a child.  But I'm so glad we tried it out last year, because it's a really nice look at Glasgow's history.  On this trip we were lucky enough to see the Red Road exhibition, which tells the social history of the notorious high rise flats which are now being pulled down.  High flats are not places I have experienced much, save for a few community visits during my midwifery training, so it was pretty fascinating to have an insight into what that life had been like for Red Road tenants, and probably is still like in many other places.

The Tall Ship has been on my radar for years, but somehow I had never got round to visiting it.  I took Half Pint to it when Mini Milk was on a settling-in visit to his new nursery, which was a good idea as manoeuvring a pram around a rigging boat doesn't strike me as fun (though much of the ship is accessible to buggies and wheelchairs, and there is even a lift).  The ship is a great day out and admission is free, which I think is incredible as I've paid to get into far poorer attractions.  We left a donation and also paid for the programme, which involved activities for children.  This really enhanced the visit, especially having to hunt for all the ship's rats (plastic, don't worry!).  We managed to find them all, including the golden rat - though that little rascal was tough to spot!  We had to walk around the ship twice, and even with some cryptic clues from the staff we really had to hunt for him.  Half Pint had a great time, getting to ring the ship's bell, sound the foghorn, scrub the deck, load the cargo and of course have a shot at taking the helm.  I can't wait until Mini Milk is older and we can take him there too - there is a soft play area in the hold and a café as well, so you can really make an afternoon of it.  And of course, it is right outside the Riverside Museum which is one of Glasgow's best attractions.

All the attractions I've mentioned in this entry - the Tall Ship, the Riverside Museum, Kelvingrove, the People's Palace, Glasgow Cathedral, the Necropolis and Scotland Street School - are all free to get into.  I feel incredibly lucky to live so close to Glasgow when we have such great free attractions (and that is not an exhaustive list by any stretch of the imagination).  If any Weegies pass by (or anyone who's spent any length of time in Glasgow), I'd love to know what your favourite museum or attraction in the city is.

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Google Plus? More Like Google Minus

Something wonderful has happened - this past week No Point Crying Over Skimmed Milk got not just it's first but also it's second ever comment!  Thank you for dropping by Angeline and Josanne, it's nice to know that I'm not just talking to myself here after all <3

But I very nearly missed these comments entirely, thanks to Google+.  I have kept a small, personal blog for over ten years on another platform, and from this I am used to having an inbox and being notified whenever a comment is made on that blog.  As far as I am aware, the traditional Blogger comment form works in a similar way.  What I hadn't realised when I enabled the G+ comment form for this blog that I was losing that functionality.  Thankfully I stumbled upon this article (from exposé tech blog The real Blogger Status) which laid out the full impact of G+ comments.  Basically, unless I manually check for comments on each individual blog post, I wont ever know that they are there.  And by having the G+ comment function, I am effectively closing the doors of commentsville to anyone who doesn't have a G+ account, because there are no options for non-G+ members to interact with me.  Whaaaat?!  Not cool G+, consider yourself ditched.  I don't want to force anyone to get a G+ account who hasn't chosen to have one of their own volition.  I also don't want G+ to be the reason someone doesn't drop me a comment.  I want to be open to anyone who has taken time out of their day to read something I have written, so I've reverted back to the traditional Blogger comment format. 

If you're a Blogger blogger who is also regretting switching on G+ comments, you can disable them under the "Google+" tab on your dashboard, and there is a really simple tutorial on how to totally un-link your Blogger from G+ here at Venus Trapped in Mars. 


Unfortunately, disabling G+ has a downside - my lovely shiny new comments will no longer show up.  Google really does play nasty...  I just have to hope that there will soon be more comments winging their way to me *nudgehintnudge*  If you've dropped by, don't be shy - let me know, because I really appreciate anyone spending their hard won free time reading Skimmed Milk.

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Kids at Weddings :: When It Isn't Just About The Bride and Groom

I read this lovely article today on the wedding blog Love My Dress, about children in weddings. It's had me thinking all day, which is nice as I've kind of taken my eye off the wedding planning ball since we got all the big things booked. Time has passed so quickly since our engagement and we're already more than six months in. Apparently that leaves 574 days (according to the countdown the Milkman has on his phone, a fact I have to share as downloading it is about the only mushy thing he's ever done), which sounds like a lot but not if time keeps marching on at this pace.

Image : Bespoke Bride
(who has some good advice if you're in the "no kids" camp!)

I very much want our children involved in our wedding. By the time we say our vows, we'll have been together for nearly eight years and this wedding is the point where all those experiences and life events are pulled together like a big ribbon, sealing us together. Our children are the central knot in that bow.

As with all things wedding shaped, I haven't gone anywhere near the finer details, but I do have a vague idea of how I think the kids will each be given a starring role. But with that comes some trepidation - Mini Milk looks like he's shaping up to be quite a handful and will still only be two on the big day, Pink Milk has a tendency to express herself through her hair (and always looks great for it...but it can't be denied that with this love of experimentation that there is the risk she'll take a taste for bright green dreadlocks or shave it all off) and Half Pint will be at the stinky Kevin and Perry stage. A potential recipe for rebellious sabotage or (equally upsetting) frosty disinterest, but thankfully they're all good kids and I have faith in them being just as caught up in the day as we will be.

I loved some of the ideas at the bottom of the article about how children can be involved. I particularly liked the idea of the invitations coming from the kids, which totally flips the traditional invite format on it's head.  That really appeals to me as I find the old school approach quite stuffy, and it wouldn't really set the tone for our day.  I also love the idea of the bride being given away by her son, which would be poignant in a step-family scenario like ours (though not one we'll be doing, as my dad giving me away is a tradition I want to keep). I also can't get over how cute an idea it would be to arm a young child with a camera to see their interpretation of the day through photos. And of course readings by or on behalf of the children is a must! I'm excited to find ways to make this day their day too.

I did read a good tip somewhere a while back, about the importance of preparing young children for such a big occasion by doing things like watching wedding DVDs and playing at weddings. Obviously with the older two this isn't an issue, but for Mini Milk I can imagine that seeing his parents in weird clothes, with lots of people watching and being in a strange place might freak him out a bit. I plan to take him along to dress fittings (once I find a dress!), and hopefully find some books that deal with the topic. And I also think that familiarising him with the venue is the best excuse ever to go for lots of meals at the Lodge and spend time on the beach at Luss too!

There is of course the issue of other people's kids at your wedding. Thankfully very few of our friends or family have children, and of those who do only one couple have a child who will be under five (who is a gem, and if he were having an off day I trust his parents to be thoughtful). This means I wont have to face the dilemma of do we/don't we say "no kids please" on our invites. Let's just say I think couples are well within their rights to decide to have or not to have child guests, and I don't think anyone should be insulted if their kids aren't invited. I know I would never forgive someone if their child screamed all through my vows, or wiped their nose on my dress, or ran around wild during the meal. If someone hasn't invited your kids, it isn't necessarily because they think yours would act that way - possibly a blanket no is the only way they could avoid having the problem children show up.  Or maybe they just don't want the risk full stop (you may find that senile grandpa hasn't been invited for the same reason), and who can blame them - you only get one shot at a day like this, after all. Don't take it personally...unless it's actually your kids that are the problem. In which case take it very personally, and then do everyone a favour and learn from it!

I'd love to hear from anyone who has good tips for involving both teenagers and young children in a wedding. Or even some good horror stories about wedding-crashing brats...! Drop me a comment, don't be shy.

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Books :: One Day + Dance Dance Dance

The Milkman and I took a little family holiday with the boys down to England last week, to Bristol to go on a Gromit hunt with a pit stop in Chester on our way back.  We really lucked out with the weather - it made up for another year without a trip abroad, because we honestly could have been in the Med!  As ever, I greatly overestimated how much lazing about I'd actually get to do (am I the only mama who needs a holiday to get over the family holiday?) and took more magazines and books than I would ever get to unpack let alone read.  But I did manage to finish the book I was on, which counts for something as I am reading at a snail's pace these days.  I give myself a target of 25 pages a night, but my eyes are often fighting to close before I've even hit ten.  So although I have a lot of holiday fun to write about (all in good time, I have a zillion photos to sort through first), I'm going to review the last two books I've read.

The book I finished on holiday was Haruki Murakami's Dance Dance Dance.  This was the third of his books that I have read (Norwegian Wood and 1Q84 were the others), and probably my least favourite.  It tells the story of a man trying to discover the whereabouts of a old girlfriend, leading him through a mysterious web of strange people all connected through an old hotel, a prostitution ring and a dysfunctional family of famous arty types.  The storyline held so much promise, but the central character was pretty bland and one dimensional.  I couldn't even picture him in my mind, there was no depth to him, and that stopped me engaging with anything he did or said.  The only strong emotion he drew from me was disgust at his creepy way of speaking to one of the younger female characters.  His attitude to women in general was seedy, but even that wasn't examined at any length - he just seemed to plod along between one encounter to another.  I don't know if it was a cultural divide or something had been lost in translation from the original Japanese, but I failed to see what his motivation was in trying to solve a mystery about a particular woman when women didn't seem to mean much to him on an emotional level anyway.  And then when he did find out, he basically just shrugged and kept on plodding on.  I don't think he was interested in her or any of the other women in the book, he was just trying to fill his own dull little life.  Having said all this though, I do like Murakami's prose.  I like how he can weave total fantasy into a story and it not ending up too out there, and the more I read of his work the more I love the dysfunctional families he brings to life.  But this particular novel left me a little flat.

Before that I read David Nicholls' One Day.  I wasn't expecting much from this, if I'm honest.  I bought it only because someone gave the Milkman a copy of the film, and because there had been so much made of the fact it was an adaptation I decided to read it first.  But my impression was that it was going to be a naff romance thing...I was so wrong!  Firstly, it's set in Britain, which was a nice surprise as I thought it was American.  But even if it was set on the moon it wouldn't have mattered because what drew me in was the format of the story - a snapshot of the same day on each passing year in the relationship of two people, Emma and Dexter.  And I really enjoyed watching their lives and relationship unfold and change over those years, being given just enough to be able to fill in the gaps without being bogged down in the details.  It was a beautifully told story, with good bursts of humour and very relatable characters.  Though most of the time all I could relate to Dexter was the urge to slap him...but unlike Murakami's unlikeable character I think that was an emotion the author wanted to bring out in the reader, and it added to the experience.
 

 That takes me to six books of a minimum of 132 I need to read to achieve in order to achieve goal #85 of my Day Zero project.  I really need to up my game if I want to read 126 more books in the next 28 months!

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Train Like A Beast :: SOS Fitness, 30 Day Shred, Kettlercise

There are many things in life that I would like to be (confident karaoke singer, sharp-witted acid-tongued out of a workout. This is a lifestyle I could never envisage having, even though I do workout regularly.  My exercise is often soundtracked by my inner child protesting that we should just go eat chocolate instead.  And my inner child often wins.  However, something weird happened to me recently that has made me think that becoming a fitness junkie isn't as far out of my reach as I once thought.  
comeback thrower, possessor of nun-like patience) but top of that list is compulsive exerciser.  The sort of person who starts the day off with a run regardless of how early it is or what the weather is doing, the sort of person who takes their gym kit on holiday with them, the sort of person who has to talk themselves

Maybe it was stars aligning, maybe aliens abducted me in my sleep, maybe Paul McKenna was involved  somewhere, but I found myself in a position where I had not one or two but three fitness commitments made one on top of the other.  As a result I had three weeks where exercise was the centre of my focus, and it felt great.  The first was an ongoing commitment, my Kettlercise class.  I blogged about this before when I was just a beginner.  I've been a regular ever since, and after ten weeks I am still hooked.  I've gone up a Kettlebell size for all but the prolonged overhead lifts, and my legs are looking better than they have in my entire adult life.  This progress has shown me that I can achieve more than I believed I could, and that I am capable of pushing myself.

My second commitment came from my Day Zero project - goal #06, complete the 30 Day Shred.  My other fitness  commitments meant that I didn't manage to do the full 30 days, so can't yet cross this off as completed, but I did manage to get to level 3.  That is just incredible to me, considering it was my first attempt.  I think what helped me progress was the format of the programme itself.  The circuits are short and none of the exercises last longer than a minute (most are 30secs), so even the nasties (urgh, I'm looking at you squat thrusts!) are bearable because the end is always in sight.

Popsugar

There wasn't anything I didn't like about this workout, though it would have been nice to see Jillian break a sweat rather than stopping every exercise to talk us though it!  I'm looking forward to taking another stab at it in a few months, and would love to work up to the point where I could do the full 30 days at level 3.

The final fitness commitment kind of came out of nowhere.  I got talked into signing up for a £15 one-month offer to SOS Fitness when they had a stand at my village's gala recently.  I was aware of this boot-camp style fitness club already, as anyone who joined seemed to be instantly brainwashed and last summer my Facebook feed was flooded with cult members trying to convert the rest of us.  I hadn't been interested in it at all, but the deal was very generous.  Unfortunatelty I really didn't make the most of my £15 because the Milkman kept being held up late at work on SOS nights, and things like parents' evening, Kettlercise and the Milkman's running club also clashed.  I did manage to get to a couple of sessions of the core SOS offering though, and whilst I haven't been indoctrinated I can see why it is popular.  I really liked the circuit aspect, much for the same reasons as I liked the 30 Day Shred.  And I enjoyed the equipment too - there is something very satisfying about bashing a tyre with scaffold poles, doing pushups on a medicine ball and throwing powerbags over your head.  But there were a lot of things I really didn't enjoy about the format. Running, for starters.  There was a lot more than I had been lead to believe there would be, and whilst I do want to take up jogging soon I just don't feel ready yet, and so didn't appreciate being thrown into it.   Another major issue I had with it was the phrase "find a partner."  I am shy and socially awkward - I have trouble just talking to new people, let alone throwing my full body weight on to their back or crawling between their legs.  I am also a very unattractive exercisee - I go bright red and sweat like a polar bear in the desert.  I don't even want to make eye contact with anyone when I'm in that state, so physical contact was a humiliation too far for me.  Another biggie was the feckering midges - sorry but exercise, in a park, in Scotland...no, just no.  I still had bite scars a week after the first session and even with repellant it was hard to give my all when I looked as if I was doing the celtic version of bee bearding.

Not me, but nearly...

 I don't think SOS is for me.  I never got to try their Metafit class though, which was also part of the offer.  I'm a bit peed off about that, as I think that may have suited me better than the core offering given that it combines the exercise elements I like (indoors, solo, short).  But I know I can go along to a class another time, so it is still on my radar.

At times in those three weeks, my commitment levels reached that much-lusted after height of compulsion.  I felt a need to exercise, and even when my motivation was waning all I had to do was force myself into my  workout gear and I was ready to go.  I felt healthy, powerful and capable of so much.  But it didn't last, as the fourth week (last week) I was hit by the lurgie and all my motivation simply vanished.  Given that I'm away on holiday this week, and return to work after ten months maternity leave next week, I'm struggling to see how I'm going to get back into that state of mind anytime soon.

But what I can take away from this experience is the solid concrete proof that I can do it, that I will do it again and that it really isn't beyond my abilities to become a  superfit supermotivated woman.  During the 30 Day Shred Jillian Michaels says that once exercise has proved to you what you are really capable of you will start to believe in your strength in all the other facets of your life. I honestly believe that to be true, and the timing of that is so perfect considering that I am starting a new job.  I feel motivated to tackle not only exercise but all of life, full-throttle.

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Glasgow Necropolis and Cathedral [a fun family day out with death and religion!]

In my mission to cram Half Pint's entire summer holiday into two weeks, I also managed to cross off goal #80 Visit Glasgow Cathedral and the Necropolis as well.

The Necropolis is somewhere that has always appealed to me, given that I've been fascinated by burial grounds since childhood (I've been to the Catacombs in Paris twice) and this place is like the Las Vegas of graveyards.  It isn't death so much that draws me, but how the dead are marked.  What interests me more than the Victoriana of the Necropolis is the sheer one-upmanship and extravagance of the grave monuments - the flagrant show of wealth and excess poorly disguised as respect for the deceased. Seeing it recently on a show on Sky hosted by Alan Cummings (love) reminded me that I had always meant to visit, which is how it ended up on my list.

The Cathedral is in the same area of the city.  I'm not religious but I do like a good cathedral.  I love stained glass, and you don't find much better than the glass in God's holiday homes.  I find the ostentatiousness of those buildings is the sort of beauty that just wouldn't work anywhere else.  There's almost a campness about how over the top cathedrals can be, but with enough oppressive stonework to scare that sort of thought out of you. 

I think for both graveyards and cathedrals it is the silence and atmosphere of reflective thoughtfulness that I like most of all.  As soon as you enter it is as if the world outside disappears, everyone automatically talks in a whisper and you find yourself thinking of something deeper than the usual mundane day-to-day stuff...or is that just me?

Not that I could lose myself in the atmosphere on this particular trip, having a wriggly baby with me!  The staff in the cathedral were very helpful though and kept Mini Milk's pram behind their desk so we could have a proper look around, which was good otherwise we wouldn't have seen much of the place.  We wound the visit up when he started shouting da da da into the silence of the lower church, though in hindsight maybe he was just saying hello to the holy father dada...? 

But joking aside it really was beautiful, as was the necropolis.  We had a good wander around, though some paths were better than others for dragging a pram over.  The views across the city alone were worth the visit, but I loved reading the old graves and seeing the OTT monuments and crypts too.  Half Pint was more interested in the restoration work being done on some of the more dilapidated tombs though...I think  he was hoping to see some zombies dug up by accident!

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The Pioneer Woman Cooks :: Spicy Pulled Pork

So, last Saturday something amazing happened for dinner.  It was amazingness directly from the pages of The Pioneer Woman Cooks recipe book, and by bringing it to life plate I was able to cross goal #56 off my Day Zero list!

Ree Drummond (to give the Pioneer Woman her full name) has been on my radar for years.  I can't even remember how I stumbled upon her, but as soon as I started scrolling through the pages of droolsome eats on her blog I was hooked.  Hell, I wasn't just hooked, I was in love!

But I was also very scared. This is not food for the calorie conscious.  This is fully loaded cowboy nosh, and unashamedly so.  For way too long I simply kept mopping up the juices of my hungerlust as I watched from afar, too feart to tot up the Points values of any of her dishes.  My food voyeurism extended to buying a book of her recipes when they were finally published, but I still couldn't take that next step.

I knew I was missing out on something incredible, and so to force myself to take the plunge I stuck it on my list.  I've decided to make Saturday dinners a bit more of an indulgence than the healthy eating we try to do during the week, so this recipe seemed like a great way to kick that off - Spicy Pulled Pork!

As this recipe isn't available on her blog, I can't link it.  But basically you make a sauce from olive oil, cumin, oregano, chilli powder, brown sugar, garlic and onions, and then massage a lovely hunk of pork shoulder with it to get it into all the nooks and crannies.  I slow cooked that baby with some water for hours until it was falling apart, shredded it with forks and served it up in tortilla wraps with salad, sour cream and guacamole.  It was beautiful - juicy and tender and rich.  I will say though, that next time I don't think I'll use as much water in the cooking process, or at least will only add it gradually over the cooking time.  I felt we lost a lot of the flavours down the kitchen sink rather than tasting them in the final product.  But it was such a hit in this house that I will definitely be doing it again, so I'll update if that makes any difference.

If that has got your tummy rumbling, Ree has another awesome pork recipe on her blog, which sound uhhmazing seeing as a key ingredient is my favourite soft drink!  I have to try this - Dr Pepper Shredded Pork

Any other Pioneer Woman fancooks out there?

I actually have a confession to make...I'd completed this goal before I even wrote it down!  It turns out that I had already made one of her recipes back in 2009.  I made these cinnamon buns, which were my proudest ever baking moment...I can't believe I forgot about them, but this just proves that I'm really not exaggerating when I say I have a heid like a sieve.  But at least now I've made something savoury from her collection as well as something sweet!

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summer holiday sickies and cramming the whole summer into two weeks

I'm aware that this is a Broody Tuesday entry being posted on a Weighty Wednesday, but take pity - I write this from the depths of my bed, feeling sorry for my swollen sinuses and sandpaper throat. I'm praying that Mini Milk will have mercy and nap for longer than half a hour to give me a break from dealing with his illness to wallow in my own for a bit. Ill momma and ill baby...it's like worstcasescenario bingo. All I need is for the dog to puke and Half Pint to injure himself playing in the xBox* and I'll have a full house.

It is a typical story for me that any hint of downtime opens the floodgates for the dreaded lurgie. The summer holidays kicked off at 1pm on Friday and by 10am on Sunday I felt like crap. True, the summer holidays isn't downtime for me, but this is a painful example of an important lesson that I often try to drill into Half Pint - life isn't fair. In fact, life can be a nasty wee cow when the mood takes her.

Actually, I blame Mini Milk. He's been going to his new nursery to settle him in before he has to attend properly, and has picked up a runny nose which seems to house all the different shades of green known to man. i think he may have even created some shades of his own...seriously, I was literally one pixel of rationality away from Instagramming it. My attempts at pinning him down in order to mop the bogeys up while he thrashes about wildly have achieved nothing more than to smear the snot all over his face. I've given up and now just offer myself as a giant tissue, so with snail trails on both shoulders, my chest and even my hair it was only a matter of time before I was struck down too. Bleugh.

But with my return to work imminent, and the fact I only get two weeks of his summer holiday with him, I'm determined that not even the plague will dampen things for Half Pint. We're taking today to plan out things for our trip to Bristol to go Gromit spotting, making some summer holiday goals using this cute printable, and maybe just do some rainy day things like puzzles or board games (though that depends entirely on whether Mini Milk will let us, or whether he will just try to choke himself on small pieces...).

We've already packed in a fair bit this week. I took Half Pint to spend some WH Smith vouchers on new books, so he got the first three Percy Jackson novels. That wasn't without drama though - bad momma wouldn't let him buy any more Wimpy Kid-style books now that he's proved his reading worth by powering through all the Harry Potter books. We've reached a compromise though - he can take out "easy" books from the library, but any books he spends money on have to be a bit more challenging. Yes, I've turned into my mother (still haven't forgiven her for blocking my Sweet Valley and Babysitters Club addictions...). On Monday we tried to visit the People's Palace but it was closed. We still had a good day though, with lunch in the Winter Gardens, a trip to the Cathedral and a wander around the Necropolis (which will get its own blog post, as this meant I completed another Day Zero goal!). And yesterday while Mini Milk was at nursery I took Half Pint on the Tall Ship, which was so good it deserves it's own blog post too. We're planning on heading up the Titan Crane tomorrow, and possibly a trip to Rothesay on Friday too. I'll be knackered by the time I start work, but it will be worth it to cram in a whole summer's worth of days out into just one week!

I need to plan some things for both boys - Half Pint in particular - to keep them occupied at granny's house for the rest of the summer. Any ideas or links for preteens or babies would be very welcomed. If you've stopped by I'd love to know what your holiday plans are too, cos I'm nosey like that.



*is he the only kid who can't sit still when playing computer games? He's not even using the Kinect, yet I can hear him jumping about from up here.

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