7th January 2011 - Prove that you can do it

I am petrified of once again learning to drive but I am determined, more now than ever, that I can do it. There is a world out there and I am stuck inside my four walls, day in day out. Normally, I am happy with that. I like my own company and I am most content when I am inside my four walls. I don't know what has changed recently but I just want to get out and the biggest thing that will help me do that is by learning to drive (again). I need to prove to myself that I CAN do it and that I have the balls to get over the fear of being in a car crash (vivid recurring dream) and just sort out my provisional license (still in date I think, 15 years after I first got it), resit the theory test and get those lessons in. People keep saying that I should have done it years ago, but I know that. Time to get on with it and prove to myself I can do it - I am focusing on the elated feeling I will get (if) when I pass.

6th January 2011 - Too bee, or not to bee

I must show you my new bee slippers. They are supposedly special ones that make sure your feet don't smell. My feet never smell (honest) but I thought I would mention that anyway.


I also have a pair of ladybirds and also have my eye on some cow slippers! They are all on sale too!

My friend, Marjorie, thinks they are awful. Well, I LOVE them. I am 33 years old and I LOVE LOVE LOVE them!

5th January 2011 - Get a very early night

Oh it works wonders! It is also how I am slightly delayed in my 5th January blog entry ;-) After a day of work, injuring my foot and generally body adjusting to the early mornings again, I had fed and watered all three of my children by 6pm. By 7pm I was so ready for my bed. Result? Up like a lark at 6.30am. Okay, ever so slight exaggeration - I wouldn't exactly say lark - anyhow, it is true, your body deserves a very early night once in a while. Sweet dreams!

4th January 2011 - Help an old lady cross the road

Figuratively speaking! I just remembered that on Christmas Eve, I helped an old lady down the town main street. I had been in the queue in the local card shop behind her and was right behind when she was leaving the shop. It had been snowing the entire weak and everything had just started to melt a little; you know when slushy ice is so awful underfoot? She was obviously very cautious and a bit distressed as she took an absolute age to transfer her balance to the one foot that had made it outside of the shop. Anyway, as I could see she was not coping very well, I offered her a hand and asked her where she was going. She was very nice and she was headed my way, so I said I would be happy to help her get to her destination. She was so thankful, bless her.

As we gingerly made our was down the busy street at a snail's pace, she told me that she was ever so grateful for my help and that she would never normally go outdoors in such weather but she had some personal business to take care of at the post office, so has to venture out. It made me wonder how many people don't have anyone to help them. I, very sadly, no longer have any grandparents and if I thought she wouldn't find me a complete freak, I'd have offered to go and do some jobs for her, but once we got to the shop she was adamant she would be fine and that she was sorry (sorry?!! I ask you!!) that she had taken up my time. I could have cried. What is a few minutes out of a day to help someone who obviously needed it?

Anyway, I still wonder if this lady is okay and I really wonder who she was. I was too shy to ask. It makes me wonder how I can go about getting involved in volunteering some help for the elderly, even just visiting people for some company as it made *me* feel like I was worth something, just to be able to help for those few brief minutes. Poor lady. There must be so many people out these who need a little help...

3rd January 2011 - Treat yourself to flowers occasionally

The tedious post-Christmas clean up happened yesterday and today. I spotted a lone vase on my windowsill and whilst out grocery shopping I decided to treat myself to some tulips. I don't often think about buying flowers as they are a luxury item but today I couldn't resist. I don't really know what came over me, I felt quite radical! They have added a lovely splash of colour to a mostly boring cream/magnolia lounge and I feel quite cheered up by them. I hope they survive a few days as once spotted by my two year old, I am sure they will be 'rearranged' in more ways than one. Cheery though and worth the £4.

2nd January 2011 - Beware of cocktails that taste like milkshake!

Enough said! A great night out, besides the entire town being SHUT for dinner, so we dined on steak and onion crisps and cheddars at the Cymro Inn, Brynmawr. I tried the range of 3 ninja turtle cocktails, followed by 3 or 4 double frothy bad angels that tasted like strawberry milkshake and wow, I am no longer sober (juding my how many typos I have had to correct. Beware! Scrummy though :)

1st January 2011 - Eat your curry slowly

Happy New Year cyberspace! Today, I have not done an awful lot. I surfed Facebook for a while, went out to visit an old friend, went to visit my parents, then came home and couldn't be bothered to cook so ordered a curry. I am a spice wuss but when the mood takes me, I quite like to get on that phone and order a takeaway from Brynmawr Tandoori - a dingy little curry house here in Smallsville, that produces the most lush spicy grub!

I often opt for a chicken korma but today I was feeling a tad adventurous and I liked the sound of a chicken tikka mushroom balti. Love chicken. Love mushrooms. A balti is a little hotter than I normally dare but I ordered it anyway. I was 18 when I tasted my first curry. We were brought up on chips and *something* or potatoes and *something* and still curry to me is rather exotic. My mum frowns when currys are mentioned - they are HOT - she says, but won't actually try a mild korma or similar, just to experience the taste. That is IT.

Whilst I devoured my very flavoursome dish, helped by my 2 year old who tore pieces off my plain naan and dipped it in the balti sauce, I thought of how many people, like my mum, miss out because they just think of curry as hot, and not full of loveliness.

Next time you have a curry, remember to eat it slowly and savour the different textures and flavours in every single mouthful.