I’m also stuck with my blooming phone. Back at the end of July it was finally time for my O2 contract upgrade. After 2 years with my Blackberry I was ready for Android heaven. I chose the Samsung Note and fell in love. My little slice of social media heaven. When I set up my new tariff and plan with O2, I chose to skip adding phone insurance to my bill. Big mistake. Huge.

3 weeks ago I was sitting in the bathroom with my Samsung Note in hand while both children were in the bath. Nothing unusual there then. Except suddenly Sam decided to slip and go for an underwater swim and needed rescuing. In I went and in went the Samsung Note. For all of 5 seconds. Having righted Sam, I whipped the phone out of the water, opened it up, took everything out and plunged it into a bowl filled with rice. Safely shrouded in rice in the airing cupboard, I hoped for the best.

Once I dared to turn the phone back on, all appeared to be working. Everything was still there, All buttons worked, the speakers still spoke; it was looking good. And then I realised that the Wi-Fi wasn’t connected. Nor the Blutooth. And when I tried to connect to the laptop, there was no connection there. It seems that the one blip on the circuit board is the one thing that allows the phone to function properly.

The O2 reps at my local stores told me that the only solution was to replace the handset. As a result of not having signed up for that “too expensive” phone insurance, a new handset will cost me £498. As if I can afford that! My only option is to try to sell my old phone and try to buy a new, less expensive handset. Yet, according to the rather disinterested receptionist at my local O2 store, I’m locked into the expensive tariff despite not having that expensive phone for at least 8 more months of my remaining 18 months contract. Stuck is more like it! Santa, can you hear me??

On top of those two bits of stuckness, I have no work, no prospects and no confidence in addition to no money. Joy to the world. Thank goodness my family loves me!

In “depression circles” it’s called your “Black Dog” but as I quite like Black Dogs (like my Sinjin), I’m going to stick with Blue Days. A very supportive blogging friend has shared with me some of her tips for getting through Blue Days. She’s also a PND sufferer and knows how challenging Blue Days can be. I really wish she lived closer to me so we could have our Blue Days together! What I need to focus on, when I’m having a Blue Day, is baby steps. Take one task at a time so as not to overwhelm. Be kind to myself. Lower my expectations a bit and embrace the Blue. What I don’t like is when the Blue Days become more plentiful than the normal days. Can someone send me some sunshine to chase the Blue Days away? I’d be most appreciative and might even make you some gluten free cake.

How do you get through your Blue Days?

The Reception area has it’s own toilets and hallway so they aren’t intimidated by the BIG KIDS just yet. And thankfully, the Reception class has the luxury of having 5 adults in the classroom as a result of 2 special needs students and the sheer size of Ella’s class. It’s really a lovely little haven and I’m fully satisfied that Ella is safe, looked after and learning.

Now that we’ve got a half-term under our belt, the Mummies are kindly asked to allow the children to come into the classroom on their own. The children have been doing this for about 5 weeks now. It was harder for the Mummies than it was for the children, to be honest! The children now bid us adieu outside of the classroom and trundle in, on their own, to distribute their belongings and settle into the room. Once we get our kisses and watch them enter the classroom, all of the Mummies sneak around the corner to peer in through the windows to make sure that our children are settled properly.

We all wait and crane our necks to see our precious little ones return to the room from the coat racks and settle happily to wait for the register. None of us feel that we can leave the window until we see our children in the room and get our final waves and blown kisses. If we don’t get those waves and kisses in, who knows what might happen to our children? It’s a bit like the windows into the Gorilla enclosure at the zoo…Mummies straining to see, children waving and indulging our need for reassurance. None of the other Years have Mummies or Daddies gathered around their windows…only the Reception class. It’s hard to let go, isn’t it?

In the US there are stores dedicated to helping you to organise your clutter. I would walk around The Container Store dreaming of all of the things I could put in their products. I would also drool a lot as well. I miss The Container Store but IKEA at least keeps me sane.

In the last few months I have suddenly become far less tolerant of clutter. Maybe it’s my PND and me wanting to clutch back some control and order but lately I’ve decided that it’s time to clean house. I’ve also started reading “The Happiness Project” and the first area that the author tackles in her life is the CLUTTER. I agree that having less clutter in your life can be very freeing.

I started about a month ago with my workspace. I moved my laptop from our lounge dining table to an old IKEA desk that I resurrected. The desk is positioned near the lounge window and in Ella and Sam’s play corner so I no longer have my back to the room. I’ve cleared the paper clutter, stashed away the junk, recycled what wasn’t being used and generally tidied up. I’m not spending anywhere as much time at my desk these days but when I do work there, it’s a far more relaxing place to be.

I have also attacked our lounge storage unit which, I might add, I hate! The storage unit is IKEA but it was acquired pre-me and is a bit unattractive as is. It also has 2 glass fronted display cabinets which contains crystal glasswear from the 1st wedding that my husband was in. I don’t think we need those crystal glasses anymore, do you?

The main accomplishment with the storage unit is that I’ve taken all of the individual pictures off the shelves. I love pictures but having 20 different frames with pictures make dusting a right pain in the arse. My new plan is to get 2 or 3 large picture frames where I can add 20 or so pictures in a collage which eliminates the need for too many picture frames. Wonder where I might find cheap, large picture frames?? (Did I hear someone say IKEA?!?)

Finally, I’ve gone a bit de-cluttering mad in my wardrobe. Being asked if you’re pregnant can make you do rash and impulsive things with your clothing that you may live to regret. Being left with only limited items of clothing isn’t brilliant. But, when you haven’t worn something for 2+ years and probably won’t ever wear it again, why should it continue to take up space in your wardrobe? I have donated a LOT of clothes to charity the last few months. I hope someone likes the clothes I can no longer wear. And I’d really like it if I could win a brand new wardrobe…just £500 would more than take care of it!

So how do you handle the clutter in your life? Could you stand to get rid of some junk? Want to go shopping at IKEA with me? It will be fun!

I’m struggling with what to do with Mummy365. I’m impulsive, I get an idea and MUST do it and then realise later that I’m not so sure about it after all. I wanted Mummy365 to be brilliant and fun and a place that loads of people would visit. Instead, I get 2 visitors and don’t know what to put here. Suggestions are welcome. My delusions of grandeur are grand indeed.

In case you didn’t know, I’ve got PND. I’ve been on anti-depressants for 6 months. In the last 2 months or so I have started to feel better so I thought maybe it was time to step down the dose. I was on 20mg a day so as of 1 week ago, through agreement with the GP, I have stepped down to 10mg a day. Suddenly, everything seems worse. I feel like I’m spinning around and don’t know where to focus. Mind you, I’m not actually dizzy but everything seems a bit frantic at the moment. I’m impulsive, lacking focus, sad, indecisive and slightly bleary. In addition to stepping down the anti-depressants I’ve been struggling with lingering bronchitis, asthma problems, hubby being sick and Half Term. I may need a day off.

I’ve had a major change in my “professional” life. A job that I did and adored for 2 years has ended. I’ve ended it, effectively, but still am grieving the loss a bit. We all like to think that we are indispensible and irreplaceable. Then when we are dispensed and replaced we realise how insignificant we are. Even if it’s pretty much what we wanted. Yes, there should be great things ahead but right now it seems very much an uphill battle.

Blogging has changed. I’ve been around for a long time by blogging standards but I feel like the oldie on the sidelines who watches the “whippersnappers” in the mosh pit below. I don’t get invited to things, I don’t get nominated for things, I don’t know who or what is “cool” anymore. I miss being in the know.

Money sucks. We have none. No, we’re not destitute. We can still afford groceries. But even things like buying clothes for the kids is a stretch. I have virtually nothing to wear, we have projects that need doing in our house, we haven’t been back to the US for 3 years now. And what is coming up in 7 or so weeks? Christmas!! How are we ever going to make it? My choice to end my job isn’t helping this one bit. Stupid stupid me.

So right now I’m standing at the bottom of a shaft. The ladder’s there, the lid is open, I can see blue sky but I’m not so sure how to climb out. Any ideas?

I can’t, for the life of me, remember where I saw this idea so please forgive me nicking it from someone but I am at least admiting that it’s not my own idea. Integrity and all that jazz. Anway, Mums in general, and this Mum specifically, are rarely IN the picture. These days, with the advent of smartphones allowing us to take technology and communication everywhere, we’re all capturing a lot more images than we used to. This is especially true where bloggers are concerned. If you see someone taking a picture of their coffee, they’re probably a blogger. If you see someone taking pictures of clouds, they’re probably a blogger. If you see someone taking a picture of whatever they’re cooking in the oven, they’re probably a blogger. Don’t you just love it?

I’m that blogger now. I take pictures of everything and nothing. I spent about an hour last night deleted random good and bad photos from my Dropbox folders. I realised that I have far too many rubbish images. And do I have any of them printed out? Hardly a one! Sad. I aim to remedy that soon if I can manage to find the pence x 100 to get my favourite images printed out and logged properly. However, I digress. As usual. In all of the hundreds of images I have captured, I am so rarely in the picture that you’d never guess that I existed. As morbid as it might sound, when I’m gone, I do want there to be some evidence that I was present in my family’s life!

Therefore, I have decided to take a picture of me every day for a year. It may be just me, it may not be my face, it may include other people but it will be me and you’ll like it! Well, maybe you won’t but maybe you’ll like the idea and maybe you’ll want to join me on #me365 as well. Put YOURSELF in the picture more often. You might just like what you see.

Here are my first 2 pictures, the first one is from Saturday 7 October, 2012:

And the 2nd is from today, 8 October, 2012:

Feel free to join me on #me365 and leave a bit of yourself to your kids and family. Use the hashtag on Instagram, Tumblr, Facebook, Twitter, G+ and whatever other social media you enjoy. I may even start a Pinterest board too. Watch this space. I’ll SEE you tomorrow for another installment of #me365!

Due to Ella’s class being divided up, there wasn’t much of a chance for the Mummies to get to know each other. And now, we’re all back together again but I have to say that I feel like a wallflower. This school gate is a totally different school gate. Literally and figuratively.

As I push Sam’s Bugaboo through the “big school” gate with Ella skipping alongside of me, I see the various groups of Mums (and a few Dads) who have already sectioned themselves off. I have no idea what their criteria is but it seems to be pretty well defined for those who are in the know at any rate. Our Reception gate is somewhat isolated from the main school so it’s not too difficult to NOT fit in but it is a bit awkward as well. As there are 30 children in Ella’s class, there are a rather lot of us in a small space. It seems the most that anyone gets to say is “Hiya!” It’s a change from Ella’s preschool where we talked with the staff and chatted with the Mummies and it was all a bit more low key. Now I can see dotted lines being drawn.

I suppose I’m reading in too much to the situation (who? me?) and I’m probably more sensitive now as I’m kind of starting over by trying to make new friends. Thankfully I have Sam as a distraction on the walk home and that’s a good thing. I also have managed to be “properly” dressed and looking presentable every day that I have taken Ella. For some reason, I feel the need to try harder at this “different” school gate. Maybe it’s all the working parents bustling in and out in their suits and ties (the Dad’s that is)? I have also realised that I really need a new wardrobe!

So how do you manage the school gate? Do you put yourself out there and ask Mums for coffee? Do you have any school gate horror stories? I could use a good laugh.