Friday Round Up

my gorgeous nephew finley joe in his wedding attire - new babymobile - weirdly long egg

a bird pooed on my hospital bag list! - 22 week baby bump - i sense a theme emerging

utility room with joists and insulation, ready for roof tiles - garden full of clover - detailed brickwork

instagram - madeupoflittlethings

The weeks continue to zoom by and I grow ever more pregnant - 23 weeks now :) I'm planning to do a little pregnancy update next week as I'm feeling a lot better and I'm not so worried about making pregnancy sound horrendous and putting people off!

Last week my step brother got married and we got to spend a lovely day with my family. We rarely get together, my step brother is in the armed forces and lives down south so we don't get to see much of him as a rule. It was a lovely day, his bride looked beautiful and it made me wish we all lived a bit closer together. And didn't my nephew look adorable in his smart attire?

I mostly worked from home this week, except for my usual trip to Derby on Thursday. I started the week in terrible pain with my pelvis but after some physio on Monday the pain started to ease and now (touch wood etc) I feel the best I've felt in a while. I'm lucky that my physio is very sympathetic and fits an emergency appointment in for me whenever I need it, as well as reducing his fee - I think he's expecting to see a lot more of me over the coming months!

The weather has been extremely odd, we've gone from pouring rain to bright sunshine in just a couple of days. The chickens spend the wet days hiding out under one of the vehicles on the drive and the hotter days spread out sunbathing on the grass. It's amazing how flat they can make themselves, they look like they've been run over! We'll be losing the three Buffs this week, they've become a bit of a pain so we're giving them away. They're extremely scruffy and make a right mess of the shed and I'm in no fit state to clean up after them at the minute! We'll miss their big eggs but the little bantam eggs are so tasty and they're much easier to keep - we could always get a few more little hens if our egg supply runs low. And the Buffs are bullies so it will be nice for the little bantys to have a happier life again

Friday was a miserable rainy day so we spent the night hibernating at home with the bears, although we had planned to go out for dinner. I find it hard to motivate myself to get ready and go out when it's grey and dreary. Yesterday I had lunch with my sister and nephew Finley Joe and last night we went to a friend's birthday barbecue which was great fun. They are tenant farmers and live in a beautiful old rambling country manor house where the last three generations of his family have lived. The place has such a lovely family history and welcoming atmosphere, we love it there. We spent the evening on the terrace, eating, drinking (not me) and watching the sun go down over the Wolds with good company - what more could you ask for? I wore a new Isabella Oliver maxi dress and had my bump rubbed :) 

I did a little bit of painting at the new house today, which is coming on a treat. The utility room is built and ready for its roof, the staircase is almost ready and it will only be a matter of weeks before we are ready to move. We've decided to let the house we live in now when we move, so I'm hoping we can stay in it until the last possible minute and get the new house as finished as possible. I know we could live in it unfinished if we had to but I'd rather get as much done as we can before we move 

I hope you all had a lovely weekend!

Mundane Midweek

I'm blogging about my Thursday again. Not because it's been any more interesting than the last few but because I like this link up (thanks Charlotte) and the last few Wednesdays I've been working from home (well, playing Candy Crush and drinking tea, anyway) which defeats the object somewhat

So yesterday I woke up at 7am, planning to wash my hair before work as I'd been too tired to do it the night before. Turned out I was too tired to do it in the morning too so I enlisted the help of some Klorane dry shampoo (excellent stuff, all you Batisters out there!) and fashioned a ponytail. I jumped - no that's a lie. I manoeuvred myself into my car (no mean feat with SPD!) and set off for Derby with my heated seat on full blast and Maximo Park on the stereo, singing along and wondering if the baby was enjoying it. I realised very soon that I was almost out of fuel and, being the daredevil I am (read LAZY) decided to wait until I got to Derby to fuel up, so I could use Sainsburys rather than motorway services and get some nectar points! 

I reached my usual Starbucks stop and got my usual chai latte with soy and a shot of espresso - god it's delicious. I got to the office a bit early, parked up, realised I was starving and turned around to go to MacDonalds for breakfast. I only had one meeting booked in but I knew it was going to be a long one, it was with a supplier I haven't seen for a year and the two Directors are absolutely lovely, really chatty guys. I was right - the meeting lasted two hours and twenty minutes and I estimate only twenty minutes was spent talking business, including printing and signing of contracts!

I worked for a couple of hours, had a long chat with the receptionist and left at 3pm, starving again. I popped to the nearest Boots to stock up on a few bits - mostly travel sized toiletries for my hospital washbag come October - eek! I fuelled my car and got soaked in the process, needing a Star Bar to cheer myself up (note to self - if it's raining, use one of the pumps in the middle of the forecourt, not Number 1 which is right on the edge and has no protection from ridiculous driving rain) Then it was back in the car, heated seat on again and a nice drive home, stopping on the way for a nap when my eyes refused to stay open. I blame the baby

When I got home Matt was waiting for me and we swapped seats so he could drive us to Louth to pick up our new babymobile, which had been for an engine remap. It's gorgeous and I love it! He spent an hour chatting to his mate, which meant I was starving AGAIN and demanded to be taken somewhere for tea - it was 8.30pm by this point. We found an Indian restaurant and made pigs of ourselves with poppadums and a pickle tray, onion bhajis for me and prawn puree for him, then lamb bhuna, chicken makhani, pilau rice and a garlic naan

Me, worried - 'Do you think we should have got Bombay potatoes??'
Matt - 'Erm ... I think we'll be ok'

It was 10.20pm by the time we got home so I left Matt to feed the dogs while I pretty much collapsed straight into bed, full, happy and tired. Is there a better feeling?

Friday Round Up

 chickens pop in for a snack - utility room underway - forgot i left the bath running ... again

a cheer up gift from my lovely dad & stepmum - baby littlethings @ 20wks - my new favourite shopping site

tired boys after a hard days work - matt's first father's day - giant lavender almost flowering

instagram - madeupoflittlethings

A couple of days late, I know. But better late than never etc etc

It's been a pretty up and down sort of week really. The pregnancy symptoms persist, getting weirder and more irritating by the day. I've had some groin pain for the last couple of weeks, which I just put down to normal pregnancy pelvic changes etc. Pregnancy hormones trigger the release of relaxin, a chemical that forces your ligaments to, well, relax to make space for the growing baby. And I've had issues with my back and pelvis for years so this was nothing I shouldn't have expected I suppose. But I woke up on Monday morning feeling like I'd been kicked in the crotch (lovely) and by the end of the day I felt as though one of those giant wrecking ball things had hit me square in the fanjo. It was eye watering and I got stuck in my car at the country store, having to flag down a passing stranger to haul me out. By the next morning I was barely able to walk and a trip to the doctors revealed that I am suffering from SPD - one of the less glamorous side effects of pregnancy which basically causes your pelvis to give up and go home until the birth. My GP was less than inspiring - 'there's no treatment and it will get worse throughout your pregnancy'. I cried all the way home and for most of the rest of the day. 20 more weeks of this?? Why am I so bloody unlucky?? 

I booked an appointment with my slightly more sympathetic private physio, whom I saw on Wednesday morning. Luckily he is a miracle worker and after some extremely effective (albeit extremely undignified) manipulation, I left his office almost walking properly, not waddling and wincing. With further physio, some exercises and the use of a mighty attractive belt to keep the pelvic bones from separating too far, he is confident he can keep me comfortable until the birth. Which is great and a huge relief. Now all I've got to worry about is how on earth I'm going to squeeze the little bugger out when I've been told to 'act as if my knees are glued together'

Wednesday afternoon was a big cheer up - our 20 week scan. Watching the baby wriggling about on the screen reminded me that there's a good reason for all this - it's not a life sentence, just a few more months and at the end we'll have a son or daughter to show for it. A little bit of me and Matt, a tiny person that's going to change our lives forever. The baby was quite co operative at first but soon decided it had had enough of being gawked at and turned away from the ultrasound so that the sonographer couldn't measure its head. We went for a walk to try to encourage the little monkey to turn around and it soon did - she got the measurement she wanted and we got a good look at the baby's face, watching it open and close its little mouth! We also got a perfect view of the bottom of its tiny little feet - legs crossed at the ankle and feet placed neatly together - it looked so snug and comfortable, it's almost a shame it has to come out!

I've been feeling baby kicks and rolls all week and it's very weird - nothing like I expected. It can make me feel a bit queasy actually! He/she's most active when I sit still, especially when I go to bed. Knowing how it feels now, I can't imagine how it must feel near the end when the baby is fully grown. At the moment it's only about six inches long :)  

It's been a very pregnancy/baby focussed week I suppose. This weekend Matt will be away racing, my sister and I will be taking my Dad out for lunch and I've got a few little jobs to do in town. Nothing exciting but I'm tired, it feels like it's been a wearing week and I'm looking forward to relaxing a bit. Last weekend was really busy too - I was at the new house painting all day on Saturday and we were at a christening on Sunday, so I feel like I'm overdue a bit of a rest. I'll catch up on Escape To The Country and do my natal hypnotherapy 

I hope you are all having a lovely weekend!

Mundane Midweek

I enjoyed this tag last week so here it is again! Head over to Charlotte's Web to link to more

So Thursday brought another trip to my office in Derby. I used to work from home most Mondays and Fridays but this has stretched to cover the rest of the week since I've been pregnant - feeling crap most of the time has made me want to curl up at home more than usual - but I've noticed that I'm a lot happier for having a day out of the house. This hasn't escaped Matt's attention either and he's been offering to take the dogs to work far more than usual in the hope of getting me out for the day, knowing I come home more cheerful! Working from home, whilst a godsend in many ways, can make you very isolated. I don't mind this in the main, I've always been quite a solitary person and never get lonely. But I work for a very large company and sometimes it's easy to forget about the wider group that I'm actually working for and get caught up in my own little world of home office. Also, spending so much time in the house makes you grumpy, even if you don't notice it at the time

So I hauled myself out of bed, made tea and toast, got myself ready for work (maternity pencil skirt, opaques and a new Isabella Oliver top, which I love) and off I went at 8am, looking forward to my Starbucks stop. I allow myself a Starbucks once a week as I've been limiting my caffeine since finding myself 'with child' and I don't mind telling you that a Chai Latte with soy and a shot of espresso is the highlight of my week. It's also a good way to break up the two hour journey and do some people watching whilst in the queue

My boss was visiting me yesterday and was already there when I arrived (rats!) which meant he had to sit in on my 11am meeting in silence (awkward) before we had our 'catch up'. The catch up mainly involved him telling me that he still hadn't started recruiting for my maternity cover - worrying as I start maternity leave in exactly three months and there's an awful lot of information to hand over. We also talked about whether I would like to keep my company car whilst on leave. Maternity pay is pretty piss poor and the company car tax plus fuel costs, normal PAYE and NI wouldn't leave a lot. We'd been planning to buy a 'babymobile' anyway so I suppose we'll have to do it sooner rather than later. Another expense we could do without but we should be used to that by now!

So I worked the rest of the day away and managed to get my inbox down to under 100 for the first time since February. It's amazing how having ones boss in the room makes one more productive :)

Heading home, the atrocious weather continued (I mean really - opaques in mid June?! I was glad of them though!) and I got stuck in traffic

About 40 minutes from home I started to feel distinctly ill in an 'oh my god - what did I eat??' sort of way. I spent the last part of the journey suffering from horrendous stomach cramps and trying not to hit any bumps in the road before I managed to get home, abandon my car on the drive and rush to the bathroom. Where I spent most of the rest of the night. Which meant I missed the cat programme I'd been looking forward to. But luckily I have the Sky app on my phone so I was able to record it from the bathroom! Isn't technology marvellous?!

Matt was out all night, setting up the track for his next race on Sunday. When he got home at 10.30pm we went to bed and looked at babymobiles on ebay until we fell asleep

How's that for mundane? :)

Mundane Midweek

I'm following the lead of one of my most favourite blogger pals today and sharing a peek into my mundane work-a-day life. If you want to read Charlotte's blog post and join in, you need to visit Charlotte's Web (and join via GFC whilst you're there - she doesn't need the extra followers but I'm sure you'll love her blog. Especially if you like cats)

Anyway, today I rolled out of bed at 8am, drank an impressive cup of tea courtesy of Matt and waved he and the dogs off to work. As I headed back upstairs I heard him wail 'oh NO!' and my heart skipped a beat. That tone is usually reserved for monumental atrocities such as 'oh NO! Someone's broken into my van and I left my briefcase in it!' Today, luckily (or not) it was followed by 'Jessie's got a bit of poo hanging out of her bum! I can't stomach it first thing in the morning!' I swiftly reminded him that he'd be able to stomach it far better than his pregnant partner, who is suffering from 24 hour nausea and that soon shut him up

I spent about 20 minutes doing my make up - you know sometimes you just really enjoy getting ready? Or is that just me? Then I dressed in my new ASOS maternity leggings (super comfy - I may never go back to normal clothes) a vest and a wafty tunic, tied my hair up and headed off to my office in Derby. I put my iPod on shuffle and had a good old singalong to 'Fire' by Kasabian, then I stopped for a Starbucks chai latte with soy and a shot of espresso, which saw off my lingering headache from yesterday a treat

I had a meeting with a new contact from a supplier who was supposed to be coming in to present a proposal which would convince me to re-sign our contract, which ends in a couple of months. He brought his boss along for good measure. Here's how that went;

Me - 'So, what do you have for me?'
Him - 'Well, you'll be pleased to hear that we have discussed the matter with our commercial team and we can offer you a saving of 10% per annum'
Me - '£90k over two years then. Great. How are you going to do that?'
Him - 'Pardon?'
Me - 'Where will that £45k per annum come from?'
Him - 'Ah well, it will come from a number of areas'
Me - 'I see. But where exactly?'
Him - The savings will come from a number of areas across the piece'
Me -  'I can't go to my FD and say 'Supplier X will save us £45k p/a for two years from a number of areas'. I'll look like an idiot. I need more information, a full proposal, not just a finger in the air'
Him - 'Ah, um, ok'

This man is 30 years in his job, ladies and gentlemen and this is a HUGE company we're talking about.  I shouldn't be surprised at their incompetence as I've dealt with them for the last seven years but still. Wow.

Anyway, I trotted off to get some lunch, a yummy Caesar salad from the Golden Arches, popped into Boots for some shampoo (L'Oreal Colour Riche - a new favourite) and fuelled my car. I trotted back to the office, caught up on some calls and emails, had my car valeted and came to an abrupt halt at 3pm when my laptop battery went flat and I realised that I hadn't brought my charger with me. Brilliant. I left in a huff and went straight to the first services on the way home - I needed more Caesar salad and some Belgian chocolate covered peanuts. On the way home I had a catch up with my ex-boss, who told me all about his new job and made me a bit jealous

I stopped at the country store on the way home to buy corn for the chickens and when I got home I found that my new Apple USB Superdrive had been delivered. It's just a disk drive for my Macbook Pro but doesn't it sound fancy? Like a superhero. Which it bloody ought to be considering how much it cost. And only Apple could get away with selling a £2k laptop with no disk drive. So now I'm importing my pregnancy Hypnotherapy CDs to iTunes so I can put them on my iPod and hypnotise myself every night. I'll let you know how that goes

Matt is on his way home with the dogs, he's going to cut the grass tonight while I cook tea (chicken breast stuffed with garlic & herb Philadelphia and wrapped in bacon, with home made potato wedges and peas) Then I'll walk the dogs, have a shower and wash my hair and we'll watch the TT coverage on ITV4 and moan about how we should have gone and we MUST go next year and we MUST get it all booked soon

And that's about it. I hope you're still awake! 

If you decide to take part in Mundane Midweek, please leave a link in the comments below so I can read about your day. There's something about reading about someone's normal day that intrigues and fascinates me. It feeds my nosiness and I like that :)