The laundry, the lunch and the wardrobe ..oh and The Wire

A day finally with no trips or required visiting, so laundry had to be done. As the first change of the year I have changed my fabric conditioner (woohoo don't I know how to live the high life!). K has suffered with patches of eczema in the past so we have always stuck to fairy which we know her skin can tolerate, today however I have used comfort tropical which smells divine. Just hope it doesn't make K itch, I don't have the time or motivation to separate our clothes from the childrens so we all go tropical or nothing!
(Physical and Environment).


Happiness rating for tropical smells - 7 out of 10.


Lunch today was due to be a roast ham with roast potatoes, vegetables and all the trimmings however motivation was lacking and so I ended up roasting my ham but having it with oven chips (McCain crinkle cut) and eggs. Certainly cut down on the prep! Twas lovely and simple and a veritable feast. K and L even got to eat theirs in front of the telly as a special treat.

Happiness rating for ham egg and chips - 6 out of 10

Today I finally got round to ordering some wardrobes for our bedroom. We moved in September and were promised wardrobes from a friend of my parents - they have not been forthcoming. Military houses always have fitted wardrobes and so we had never needed any before. As a result our bedroom looks like a jumble sale with cases and temporary hanging rails and its driving me crazy!! So I have bought the above wardrobes in the sale in B & Q. I have got walnut cabinets with black gloss doors though which will match in with my cast iron bed. The £800 they (and the matching bedside tables) cost me had better be worth it, but as I am really poor at the moment the purchase has made me a bit anxious.
(Physical and Environment,Material Possessions).


Happiness rating for getting the wardrobe situation sorted out - 9 out of 10




And finally ...... I bought the entire box set of The Wire on DVD for my husband for Christmas expecting many months of episode watching. Last night (despite complaining all day he was tired and being generally grumpy because of it) he watched 5 episodes back to back meaning he wasn't in bed till well after 2am! He has also taken to speaking in American street slang which sounds ridiculous coming out of his mouth (this is a man who had to watch 8 Mile with subtitles on to be able to understand it). Just hope this addiction isn't going to result in baggy jeans with his pants showing and super bling trainers. He's just too... middle classed for all that!

Hello and welcome!

Hello and welcome!





Let me tell you a bit about myself, my reasons for starting the blog and my plans for 2010.





I'm a 30 year old mummy to 2 gorgeous full of life children. K is 5 (6 in the new year) and L is 4 1/2. I have been married to my husband for 8 years and known him since I was 17. Our married life has mainly been smooth sailing but this past year has been turbulent to say the least. My husband (S) has been in the military for 11 years but left late last year for a more "normal" family life. This year we managed to finally get on the property ladder and bought our first ever house (now as poor a church mice!)


I work full time as a Speech Therapist with children and teens with emotional behavioural difficulties which I love but it is definately hard work! Its an unusual area for a speech therapist to work in and I still have loads to learn about it. Ideally I'd prefer to work part-time but finances dictate otherwise.



With things being so difficult over the past year I have come to realise I don't know myself very well anymore. I married young and then had the kids, was an army wife and let my life be dictated by my husbands job and lifestyle. Now that has all changed I have realised I have little idea of what motivates me or brings me joy and this past year I have felt quite lost in many ways as well as being pretty unhappy. So.. I'm on a quest to find out more about myself and also find a good balance between work and home and rediscover some joy in life.

In preparation I have read "The Rough Guide to Happiness" by Dr Nick Bayliss which was a very balanced guide and a great starting point. As a result I intend to label my experiences under the following headings:

1 - Intellect. Learning continues to give me a buzz be it related to work or play.

2 - Play. Having fun, pure and simple!

3 - Creative. Inventing, making, creating. Seeing a project from start to finish.

4 - Relationships. With my husband, children, family, friends, work collegues.

5 - Physical and environment. Exercise (not high on my joy factor), the great outdoors, my home and garden.

6 - Material possessions. Does my shopping habit make me happy or do I shop because I'm looking for happiness?

I will then rate how happy my daily experiences make me out of 10 with 10 being fantastically ecstatic and 1 being far from happy.

I look forward to hearing your comments and ideas. Paula xx