Ouistreham, Normandy, France

There are some things in life that are meant to be. I believe that I was meant to be with my husband. We found each other across an ocean thanks to lovely, yet bizarre circumstances. We had chatted on the phone for a few months before we met for the first time at Luton Airport. We had an amazing weekend in Paris a couple of weeks later and then the following week I made my first crossing on Brittany Ferries from Ouistreham to Portsmouth to spend another weekend with Mark. In total I ended up making 6 return crossings from Ouistreham to Portsmouth from February to May…all worth it, most definitely.

For those of you who don’t know, I was studying French at the University of Caen in Normandy in the winter & spring of 2005. Thursday February 24, 2005 was the night I was to make my first crossing of the English Channel. I was quite excited as I had never been on a ferry before. I made my travel arrangements online and booked my ticket for an overnight crossing leaving at 11:30pm on Thursday night. I would spend the weekend in England and then return back to France on the Sunday night for another overnight crossing to arrive back in Caen on Monday morning before my first class of the day.

The week leading up to that Thursday had been unseasonably cold and wintery in Caen. Well, in all of France for that matter. And as with most countries that aren’t used to cold and SNOW, the change in the weather virtually paralysed the country. I laugh at this as I’m from the state of Wisconsin where temperatures of 40 degrees below zero (Farenheit) and snow drifts of 5-6 feet aren’t uncommon in the winter months. But France was struggling.

Sometime in the late morning/early afternoon of that Thursday in February it started to snow. It was a wet, heavy snow with flakes as big as a 50p piece. On normal occasions I would have been thrilled to see such snow. I love snow. I was not so excited to see it falling heavily and accumulating on the ground at a rapid pace. My ferry was scheduled for 11:30pm. I was taking a shuttle bus from the centre of Caen at 8:00pm. I began to fear for my safe arrival.

Just to be safe, I decided to head down to the centre of time with plenty of time to spare so that I could, perhaps, take an earlier bus to Ouistreham, the port town. I enlisted my good friend Sarah to help me and keep me company. We headed down in the late afternoon to take the tram downtown. We were trudging through the wet, sloppy snow, dragging my hot pink suitcase through the slush and getting wetter and wetter ourselves as the snow continued to fall. We waited at the tram stop on the University campus. And we waited. Finally, an electronic message appeared on the board above our heads…NO SERVICE. Damn.

We decided to walk downtown. Through piles of slushy, wet snow. Through muddy brown puddles. We were soaked through. I didn’t have boots or an umbrella nor did Sarah. We were laughing though. How ridiculous we looked! We arrived in the downtown area looking like drowned rats. There were a few cars around and some lights on in the shops and restaurants around but downtown Caen was looking fairly deserted. My heart started to flutter…was I going to make it to Ouistreham? Surely the bus would still run?

We found a restaurant that dared to open. “La Crepuscule”…a crepe restaurant. They opened their plastic raincover doors for us and we were enveloped by warmth and light. The amount of water that came off of us and my luggage was massive. We tried to wipe it up with little success. We ordered glorious crepes and sat at a table with a view on the square to watch for any signs of transportation. The outlook was decidedly grim. I enquired with the waitress and chef about the possibility of bus service to Ouistreham. They said it was unlikely. I started to falter. I HAD to make it to Ouistreham! I had to make it to the ferry!

As Sarah and I were lamenting and wondering, the waitress, Annabelle, came over to us. It turned out that she lived in Ouistreham and her boyfriend was coming to pick her up to take her back to Ouistreham that evening. She said that they could take me to the ferry! Sacre bleu! An angel in the form of a French waitress called Annabelle. The chef, hearing my plight and romantic story told the waitress to go early and soon the night in shinning armour known as her boyfriend turned up to drive us to Ouistreham. Sarah hugged me goodbye and trudged back through the snow to campus. I set off with two French people that I didn’t know to hopefully arrive at the ferry terminal in time to board my ferry.

The journey from Caen to Ouistreham normally takes about 30 minutes. On this night it took about 45 minutes but thankfully we arrived at the port terminal around 10:30pm with time to spare. I tried to give my saviours money for their troubles but they wouldn’t take it. They were just happy to help. I sloshed into the Ouistreham Port terminal and checked in for my first ferry crossing. As the ferry pulled away from the terminal with me on it, I finally breathed a sigh of relief. I used my mobile phone to ring Mark and tell him that I had made it. He would collect me early the next morning in Portsmouth. We were both ecstatic.

Thanks to the kindness of total strangers, a weekend that would have ended up a miserable disappointment ended up being the first weekend that Mark and I said “I Love You”! All’s well that end’s well. Think about it…what were the chances that I would end up in a restaurant with a waitress who lived in the very town I needed to get to? I’m guessing slim, to none! So, you see…our life was meant to be…no matter what the weather.

This post has been belatedly written in support of Josie’s Writing Workshop at Sleep is for the Weak.

Embarquement to a new life!

I know I’m very near to 40 now so I’m getting into that “Grumpy Old Woman” stage but come on England! What the hell is up with your customer service? I have experienced some astonishingly crappy customer service lately and I feel the need to NAME and SHAME the offender as I think crappy customer service should just not be stood for!

Prime Suspect: Vodafone

I began a process to get mobile service through Vodafone about 3 weeks ago. I thought this would be a simple process. I thought I would be able to go into the store with my gifted BlackBerry Storm 9500 and walk out with a functioning phone. How wrong was I? Very!

Our local Vodafone store’s system was down on the day I went in. Nothing could be processed as their entire computer system went kerfluey. I’m not sure why they were open then, to tell you the truth. The employees looked harassed and hot and their sales patter was less than effective. They assured me that someone would ring me within 24-48 hours to set up an account. I’m still waiting for someone to ring me in that regard.

I’m impatient so I proceeded with online registration. That, I may add, went off without a hitch. There was even a handy “on-screen” operator called “Hillary” who guided me through everything I needed to do. Easy Peasy. I only had to wait for 2 days for my sim card to arrive. Great. I document this in my post entitled Technological Difficulties. It’s a good read. You’ll enjoy it!

After dealing with unbelievable incompetence in store and on the phone; after enduring 75 minutes (60 minutes of which was on hold) on a premium phone line over 2 days time speaking to umpteen different service operators, several of whom barely spoke English; after listening to mind-numbing “on hold” music that made me want to bash my head in do you think I would want to remain with Vodafone? Erm…let me give you one guess…

Vodafone noticed my tweets on Twitter and responded. They commented on my Technological Difficulties post and encouraged me to email them. I actually spoke to a representative of Vodafone. What do you think they could do for me to show me how sorry they were for my inconvenience and trouble? Jack all.

I was assured by said Vodafone representative that they would address the customer service issues “in house” and that I should not have been kept waiting as long as I had been and that it was unfortunate that the mast was down thus rendering my service options null and void. He assured me that it was a shame that the operators couldn’t seem to tell me at the beginning of this process that the BlackBerry Storm 9500 phone that I was trying to arrange service for was not, in fact, wi-fi capable and that, yes, they should have been able to tell me that when I first asked about it. Again, it would be addressed “in house”.

Gee, I’m so pleased. I expect that there will be a whole training session on how NOT to keep your customers on hold for 3/4 of their time on the phone and how NOT to mislead your customers by NOT knowing anything about the model of phone which they are enquiring about. Vodafone employees are going to love me at their next training session! I’ve given them so much to learn. Maybe they will invite me to this training session so I can role play the situations again and see how they might handle it differrently this time.

Back to the real question here, though. What was Vodafone going to do to entice me back to their mobile network after I had, sadly, cancelled my contract? Well, actually, nothing. You see, as I had cancelled my account, there wasn’t much they could do for me after all. Sorry. Oh, wait, well, after a bit more emailing they did decide that if I wanted to come back to Vodafone they would give me…wait for it…a WHOLE MONTH FREE!!! Basically a month to decide if Vodafone was the right mobile network for me. No! A whole month free!

NOT BLOODY LIKELY!!!! You see, when a company treats me like rubbish, can’t deliver on services, doesn’t know basic information about their product, keeps me waiting for a ridiculously long amount of time and isn’t even willing to make amends to preserve their reputation then I’m not going to waste my hard-earned pittance on their service and thus be locked into an endless contract of hellish service and problems. Fool me once, shame on you! Fool me twice…shame on me. I don’t like to be ashamed so I’m not going to be fooled again.

Vodafone…you’ve lost a customer. You’re on my list. I know that doesn’t mean anything to you and ultimately you could give a rip but my list lasts forever…and I have friends (a few) and I’m going to be sure that they know all about my experience…that’s what I’m doing now. Sorry Vodafone…better luck next time!

Now, where’s O2?

MiBody Analyser Scale £74.99

MiBody Blood Pressure Monitor £69.99

MiBody Pedometer £49.99

Anyone who has read this blog knows about my struggles with weight and getting back into shape. You’ve listened to me whinge and whine and do very little about it. Sigh. I have stumbled upon some brilliant products, however,  that will tell you more about yourself than you ever wanted to know and just might help to kick you into touch along with my lazy bum!

I was offered the HoMedics MiBody 360 range of products for trial purposes to put them to the test and see how truly fantastic they are. Well, they are pretty darn fantastic, I must say. First of all, they look BRILLIANT and rather glitzy! The MiBody Analyser Scale I was sent is the opaque white glass option and doesn’t scream “I’m a SCALE” but rather looks like a nice paperweight, albeit on your bathroom floor. The clever part about the entire MiBody 360 range is that it’s all compatible with your computer to track your overall health progress. Up to 6 family members (or neighbours if you’d like to invite them in!) can track their weight, body fat percentage, muscle mass, BMI and BMR which can then be transfered into your computer through the USB memory stick which accompanies the scale. You end up with pretty graphs and information on your computer to tell you just how fat and lazy healthy you are.

In addition to the MiBody Analyser Scale, you can purchase the MiBody Blood Pressure Monitor (£69.99) and Pedometer (£49.99) to further track your health and fitness. Both come with USB cables which connect to your computer to transfer data for your fitness report. The pedometer is particularly cool as you can wear it around your neck (courtesy of the lanyard provided) or in your pocket and is a very sleek and functional pedometer. I’ve used other pedometers that are cumbersome and clicky but this pedometer was barely noticeable!

Salter Nutri-Weigh Slim Electronic Scale £44.99

I also was allowed to trial the Salter Nutri-Weigh Slim Electronic Scale (£44.99). What a funky scale this is! Sure, it’s a scale but it also has an Aquatronic function for measuring liquids (bonus!) AND you can put virtually any food on the scale and it will tell you the full nutritional value of that food item. There are 999 foods available in the guide (why didn’t they find 1 more? I’m not sure!) and all you have to do is pop the offending item down on the scale, check the guide for the 3 digit code, punch in the numbers and whammo! You’ll be able to see how horribly offensive nutritious and delicious your food of choice is!

And when you have all of that information at your disposal you can either choose to eat it and then put on your pedometer and work it off OR put it in the bin! Isn’t information a powerful thing?!

You can find out more about the Salter Nutri-Weigh Slim Electronic Scale through the Salter Housewares site. It’s really a lovely scale to have sitting on your kitchen counter. It’s slim (strangely enough), a cool grey colour and is a great resource to have to hand in the kitchen. Now, if I can just find my cooking mojo to get me back & flourishing in the kitchen, I can really give the scale a hearty workout.

Thank you to the PR’s for Salter who provided me with this amazing set of scales and monitors.

Somewhere Under the Rainbow

In our little corner of Cambridgeshire & Lincolnshire, we’ve found some pretty amazing natural wonders that manage to take your breath away. This glorious double rainbow appeared directly over our garden one evening in May this year. It’s so rare and so fleeting yet so awesome…even to jaded adult eyes!

Watch out for that duck!

Do you see the duck approaching Little Miss at speed from the right? Well, it got very close to pecking her teeny outstretched hand just after this picture was taken! The pigeons and ducks in The Meadows in Stamford are very familiar and are used to being fed. Rather, they demand to be fed. Unfortunately we were not properly equipped! Little Miss kept her distance after this brush with nature.

The night before Little Miss’ second birthday, hubby and I stayed up until 2am setting up her “garden cottage” and “trampo-treen” so she would have a big surprise awaiting her in the morning. I managed to catch a visitor in the dark of our garden and snapped a quick pick of him (or her). Unfortunately, the next night, whilst walking out in the garden I crunched either this visitor or one of their friends. Sorry Monsieur or Madame Escargot! I hate it when I do that!

Little Miss had the joy of holding nature in her two little hands this summer on a trip to Hunstanton Beach with her cousins. As they were rock pooling and crabbing, Little Miss was gifted with a tiny, dead crab which she clutched in her left hand for about 45 minutes. When we finally convinced her to let the crab go “back to his Mummy” in the sea, her hand positively STANK of dead, rank fish (or crab). It took several washing to cleanse her of her NATURE smell. But oh boy, was she happy!

This post is in support of Tara Cain’s Gallery which has a theme of NATURE for this week. Don’t miss out on the other amazing photos from glorious photographers who have me in awe every week.

Little Miss is two. Some would say “Terrible Two’s”. Today I might agree. I am trying to think of it as our Toddler Tantrums & Trials or T3! Let’s coin a new phrase!

Little Miss has a BEST FRIEND who is pictured above. They’re 3 days apart in age and have known each other thanks to their mothers since they were 3 months old. Sabina and I sat next to each other at Baby Beans music class through our local Sure Start Children’s Centre. We’re still great friends 22 months later and our girls are as well…most days.

I’ve been horrified several times however. I’ve been horrified to find that my daughter can be downright nasty to her best friend. She’s even clocked her over the head once or twice and today they had an actual tug of war over some of the toys in the room. It seems that whenever we put the two of them together in one of our houses the Territorial Monster comes out and suddenly it’s every girl for herself.

A journey in the car? No problems. Walks in the pushchair? Easy Peasy! A play in the park? A walk in the park! But throw their own toys into the mix and World War III breaks out. I don’t understand this nor do I know how to handle it. Prevailing advice tells us to let them sort it out themselves. But can I allow my child to physically hurt her best friend? They both give as good as they get…neither girl is innocent by any means.

I’m at a loss with how to handle this. I don’t want Little Miss to think it’s ok to lash out at anyone and she needs to know that that sort of behaviour is unacceptable. However that means that as mothers we’ll continually be wading into the fray to break up the kitten fight. Is that right? We can’t always have them in “neutral” territory after all. How do you handle this with your child? What are your top tips for handling friendly fire and teaching your child appropriate behaviour?

In the meantime, I’ll get the Arnica Cream back into the rota and do my best to redirect my child. Please just don’t let her start biting! I might never leave the house if that happens!

"Who me? Start a fight? NEVER!"

Just Vlog It (not sponsored by Flip...sorry!)

It’s Summer! There was supposed to be a Just Vlog It challenge this month. It’s nearly the end of this month! What happened you may ask?

Well, life happened! I became overwhelmed by the pressure to Just Vlog It and have crumbled. But thanks to two lovely bloggers named Victoria and Heather, I have resurrected the flame of Just Vlog It and am re-launching it for August with a new and exciting spin!

The pressure of hosting, running, creating and promoting has become a bit much so after discussion with Victoria and Heather, we came up with a new plan that will hopefully spread the love of VLOGGING and CREATIVITY and share the traffic as well. We will now embark on the “Just Vlog It World Tour”!

Each month a new vlogger will host the Just Vlog It challenge. They will launch their challenge on the first Monday of the month and give vloggers a theme (or not…however they choose to run it). Vloggers will then have 2 weeks to plan, script, record, edit and post their vlogs on their own blogs. On the third Monday of the month, the host will put up his or her own vlog entry on their blog and allow other vloggers to add their posts by MckLinky widget (similar to Tara Cain’s The Gallery).

We’re taking the COMPETITION out of Just Vlog It by providing a platform for people’s creativity which encourages rather than discourages. The Just Vlog It host is welcome to acknowlege brilliance in vlogging if they so choose but for the time being, there will be no WINNERS as in the past. Let’s make it fun, eh?

I will continue to organise and oversee Just Vlog It and take part in it myself. We have two vloggers to start the hosting:  Victoria at It’s a Small World After All Family will host the August Just Vlog It and Heather at Young and Younger will host the September Just Vlog It.  I hope this will encourage all of you to dust off your video cameras and dive in! Maybe we’ll even get a few of you who said you’ll NEVER Just Vlog It?? It just might be fun, after all!

As we move forward, we’ll retain one general guideline: do try your level best to keep your vlog entries to under 5 minutes. Consider how little time we all have and do your best to aim for 3-4 minutes with 5 minutes being the MAX. Otherwise, the world is your oyster. You don’t have to be the next James Cameron or Kathryn Bigelow (yes, I do love Hollywood)…just give us a glimpse into your life. We don’t care how perfect it looks or sounds!

And if you’d be so kind, we do have a Twitter identity- @justvlogit is where you can find us and #justvlogit can be used to promote your vlog entries or any vlogging you do! Victoria and Heather will be helping with the Twitter promotion in months to come.

If you are interested in hosting a Just Vlog It challenge, please leave your name in the comment field below and I’ll get back to you to assign you a month. It will be similar to hosting the BMB Carnivals except you won’t have to pfaff about with entries & emails…the vloggers will enter their entries themselves through the MckLinky Widget. I’ll help anyone hosting and will give you all the dates you’ll need. I look forward to getting some new hosts!

MONDAY 2 AUGUST will be Victoria’s launch for the August Just Vlog it and it will have the same theme as was issued for July (Summer and/or Blogging)! In the meantime, practise your vlogging technique and get ready to roll next Monday! See you at It’s a Small World After All Family then…now, ready, steady…JUST VLOG IT!

Ah, here I am…chic little me…ready to bring you the first of my Friday Fantastic Five!

Cafe Bebe has had the distinct priviledge of testing and reviewing loads of brilliant products.

Some are for Little Miss.

Some are for me!

Some are for the Cafe Bebe famille.

Every Friday I will bring you my Fantastic Five!  Five products which have been tested, used, experienced & enjoyed.

I hope you’ll enjoy the journey!

I was approached by the PR for Three Mobile to see if, as a family, we’d like to enjoy a day out and trial their new, genius product called MiFi.  This is a Mobile Broadband unit which allows you to be out and about and tap into your own, personal broadband, wireless internet.  It’s similar to a dongle which can be used for a laptop but it’s totally wireless and allows you to use any wi-fi enabled device (phone, laptop, iPod Touch, Nintendo DSi) and allow up to 5 other individuals to tap into your connection if you so choose. The signal is secure, meaning no one else can tag on unless they have the password. Three Mobile MiFi can be used in the car, in public, on the train, at your desk…anywhere you choose.

In addition to the MiFi device, we were also afforded an iPod Touch for trial purposes. I tested the Three Mobile MiFi on a trip to London last week for the Pampers Play Day. It required me to charge it overnight but can also be powered and charged with a simple car adaptor which plugs into a standard cigarette lighter. I simply plugged it in, stuck it to the window with the included suction cup, pressed a few buttons and BINGO we were cooking with gas! I maintained a strong signal the entire way from Peterborough into London allowing me to be on Twitter, check emails, read blog posts and check on my own blog. I was also able to connect to the MiFi during the Pampers Play Day event which was exceptionally convenient. We tweeted, emailed and blogged our way around London and back home thanks to MiFi!

This product is really simple to use, convenient and compact. It will fit in your mobile pocket and weighs very little. It’s ideal for trips and would be a welcome companion on summer holidays. I was also immensely impressed with the iPod Touch! I know, I’m a bit behind the times…I only have an iPod Nano and barely use that…it’s 5 years old! The iPod Touch has all of the features of an iPhone minus the PHONE. That’s alright with me…I don’t ring anyone anyway! I’d happily skip about London with a Three Mobile MiFi and iPod Touch…you can do all of the business you need with this tiny technology in your pocket.  Do check it out…you won’t be disappointed!

Hitting store shelves earlier this week is a chocolate version of the Weetabix cereal which is a favourite of so many households in the UK. As a family, we were sent a box of Chocolate Weetabix, a lovely bowl in which to eat it and a few other bits and bobs which were much appreciated by Little Miss.

I have to admit something…I’m not a huge fan of Weetabix in general. It’s good for you; is a great way to start the day but I sometimes struggle with it when it goes all mushy! I gave Chocolate Weetabix a whirl. It has half the sugar of most chocolate flavoured cereals, is low in salt, high in fibre, is fortified with vitamins and iron…what’s not to love? Well, it was interesting and more appealing to me than everyday Weetabix. I didn’t find it sickly sweet as some sugar cereals can be. I am not a chocolate cereal lover and Chocolate Weetabix did not convert me but I think it would be very enticing to children in particular. The fact that it contains half the sugar of other chocolate cereals is reassuring.

One of my good friends was staying with us when we had our trial box of Chocolate Weetabix. She’s from the US but is a big lover of Weetabix. She adored this new version but found that her usual two squares of Weetabix was a bit too chocolatey! So Sarah came up with a one Chocolate Weetabix & one Regular Weetabix recipe and was thoroughly satisfied. That’s enough of a judgement for me! Next time you’re looking for chocolate cereal for your child, give Chocolate Weetabix a go…you just may have a winner with this one!

The Cafe Bebe Famille have been big fans of Little Dish for a year or so now. I’ve had the priviledge of testing some of their dishes, been listed on their site as a Little Dish Favourite site and have now been able to preview their latest effort.

The Little Dish Favourites Cookbook is a lovely book with easy to follow recipes, several of which are in Little Dish form in grocery stores near you. The recipes are intended to encourage cooking with your child and they definitely deliver on that score. Little Miss adores cooking with me in the kitchen and we quite enjoyed trying our hand at Macaroni Cheese (Little Miss is a pasta freak!) and Eton Mess. Your children will thoroughly enjoy the recipes and you’ll make some beautiful memories together!

A glorious package of numerous flavours and varieties of Rachel’s Organic yoghurts was delivered to our door one weekend morning. Ah, blogging is really a brilliant job sometimes! We were able to try NORMAL sized Low Fat Yoghurts, Pouring Yoghurt, Greek Style Yoghurt…such delightful yoghurt! And so good for you!

Here’s what Rachel has to say for herself:

Here at Rachel’s we are dedicated to making gorgeously pure tastes. All of our products are made simply and with care – using only the very best organic ingredients – to create the deliciously natural flavours we know you will enjoy just as much as we do!

So, how do we do it? Our secret is really quite simple… We believe that you get out what we put in. That’s why every single pot is made with passion and care using only the finest unadulterated ingredients from nature. What do you get? Sophisticated and authentic tastes that are, quite simply, a delight to discover.

In addition to the adult yoghurts, there is a whole range of Children’s products and a quite entertaining site to explore and enjoy. You can find Rachel’s Organic Yoghurts on grocery store shelves near you (in the UK at any rate) and I can say that the entire Cafe Bebe famille was most satisfied with the lovely flavours and textures on offer with Rachel’s Organic.  Rachel’s Organic even joined forces with the beautiful Emma Bridgewater if that helps to sway you to the Rachel’s Organic side!

And to round out the Friday Fantastic Five this week…Pampers Active Fit with Dry Max! As many of you know, I have worked with Pampers and their PR firm, Fleishman-Hillard on a number of projects. Recently I was invited to the Proctor & Gamble Research and Development Facility in Schwalbach, Germany to learn more about the new nappy technology in Pampers nappies.

I’ll preface a future post with my own personal endorsement, as a mother, for Pampers Active Fit nappies with Dry Max. We have started using the Pampers Active Fit with Dry Max nappies and I have been immensely impressed with their efficacy. Little Miss has not had a leak in the 5 weeks we have been using them and we use them as her overnight nappy. She has not had a “chemical burn” (because there are no chemicals in them but I’ll save that for another day) nor has she had a nappy rash. The Pampers Active Fit with Dry Max is remarkably thin and comfortable for Little Miss and she’s a very happy young lady in these nappies.

I know nappies are controversial…gah! What isn’t about being a parent? But I trust Pampers and on the basis of my daughter’s experience, we’re very happy with Pampers Active Fit with Dry Max…more to come on this. You’re going to learn more than you ever wanted to learn about nappies. You’ll be able to go on Mastermind as a Pampers Nappy expert! Now, remember, I’m just one mummy…don’t hate me because I use Pampers!

So, there you have it! Cafe Bebe’s Friday Fantastic Five! Come back next Friday for more amazing products that have come through the Cafe Bebe front door. Give them a go…you just might like them! Have a great weekend…

Off I go now…glamourous me…new products to trial and test…ah…the life of a parent blogger…’tis exhausting!

Photo courtesy of www.mummy-tips.com

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circa September 2008

In 2008 I read a wee book called “Petite Anglaise” by Catherine Sanderson. It was based on her blog “Petite Anglaise” which had grown in such popularity that she had secured what many bloggers dream of…a book deal!

I was inspired to blog through reading Petite Anglaise (which unfortunately she hasn’t blogged at for a LONG time) and then managed to create my own Petite Anglaise in my Little Miss.  I took these pictures when she had received her passports.  Several shots of her with the George’s Cross & UK passport, several shots of her with the Stars & Stripes and her US passport…and one with all of the above.

I adore my Petite Anglaise…oh, how she’s changed in the last 2 years!

circa September 2008

Petite Anglaise (et Americaine)

This post was cobbled together in support of Tara Cain’s Gallery at Sticky Fingers.  I’m seriously lacking in blogging motivation but my daughter is always my inspiration.

Little Miss and I had the honour of attending a special Pampers Play Day in London on Thursday 12 July.  There were lots of babies, toddlers, mummies and even a special celebrity in attendance!  Melanie Chisholm (aka Mel C/ aka Sporty Spice) is the spokesperson for the Pampers World of Never-Ending Play…we got to meet her!

She’s ever so lovely and ever so NORMAL!  Melanie is a mother now as well to the gorgeous 17 month old Scarlet in addition to just finishing a run on the West End in “Blood Brothers”.  She’s teeny, beautiful and so approachable.  My good friend & blogger Sabina from MummyMatters had a good old chin wag with Mel while I discussed amber teething necklaces with her.  How fun was that?!

Photo courtesy of www.melaniec.net

Here’s a bit of the day in pictures.  Sabina drove us down in an amazing car which I can’t recall the name of right now.  She hooked up the double DVD players so the girls would be properly entertained on the way.  What a blessing!

When we arrived at Kent House in London, we were greeted by the lovely staff at Fleishman-Hillard and treated to plenty of pastries, fruit, tea and juices while the children ran around, crawled on the floor and made new friends.  It was great to see Muddling Along Mummy and Single Mummy.net again as well…we all seem to be running into each other a lot!

The children had the opportunity to play in a brilliant light room which I plan on installing in my new house after I win the lottery.  The light followed them around as they moved and there was a lot of throwing themselves down on the light and saying “splash”.  Seemed like good fun…I was tempted to join in but held back as I am a classy Mummy Blogger after all.

Of course, we couldn’t end the day without a special photograph with the Pampers Celebrity Spokesperson…Mel C!  I enjoy using Little Miss as a shield…can you tell??  I’ve also created 2 new Spice Girls for the next World Tour.  Give us a ring Mel!

Finally, here’s what a Pampers Play Day does to 2 two year olds!  Thank you Fleishman-Hillard, Pampers and Melanie.  We all had a brilliant time!

circa May 2008

This is not a picture of me now, I must say, but rather when I was 9.5 months pregnant with Little Miss.  I had a GIANT belly, had put on a LOT of weight (thank you muffins, fish & chips and anything that didn’t run away from me) and ended up rather mahoosive.

I gave birth to Little Miss in June of 2008.  Some of the weight drained away but a lot of it stayed.  And I’ve actually probably added some to replace the weight that drained away.  I am VERY far off of my pre-pregnancy weight which wasn’t even a good weight for me either.

Thanks to my giant belly, I have a rather significant diastasis recti (abdominal separation) and for the most part, my internal organs are falling out of my abdominal cavity (there’s a nice picture).  I have an aching back, an aching tummy and feel rather miserable.

I haven’t done much to get rid of it however.  I have had fits and starts of walking, attempts to eat more healthily and failed attempts at limiting wheat & sugar to decrease bloating.  I’ve had advice and help from Mummy Tummy Guru Wendy Powell and yet, there remains this belly.

I would like to state for the record, “I’M NOT PREGNANT, I’M JUST FAT!”  I have had 3 people, in the last 2 weeks, ask me when my baby is due.  I’m humiliated.  I can’t find clothes to wear that don’t make me look pregnant.  I resort to wearing hubby’s shirts which makes me look pregnant AND frumpy.  I can’t find decent trousers to wear as, under my “tummy bump” I’m probably only a size 12 (from the hips down) but then pull my belly into the equation and god only knows what size trouser I’d need.

I know why people think I look pregnant.  Because I do!  I have relatively slim everything else but still have this BELLY poking out.  Sensible brains tell these people “There’s a pregnant lady!”  But I’m not!  I’m not pregnant, I’m just fat.  I hate it when I’ve had the questions about my due date!  I try to laugh and say, “No, not pregnant, just fat” and then the commenter feels horrible and tries to make me feel better and I laugh and say, “No worries”.  It kills me though.  Really, truly.

I would really appreciate any clothing advice to help me disguise my protuberance.  I would really appreciate a consultant to repair my diastasis recti.  I would really appreciate a personal trainer to come get me out of bed and help me solve this horrific and embarassing problem.  I turn **40** this year.  I would like to look a bit better in November.  Any advice is welcome.

And please remember, the next time you run into me, I’M NOT PREGNANT, I’M JUST FAT!!!  sigh…