Day 6: The Weekend is Here

It's been a bit of a garden-based day here at BeeBee Tower's. Unfortunately the Princess Garden has seen better days. I've definitely not kept up with it this year... Although my new gazebo is ace and Mr C's oil drum bbq arrived last night.

We did the monotonous visit to Tesco's this morning, then I had a quick go at the patio which has grass greener than the lawn right now, gave up after about 30 mins - I'm nothing if not a lightweight where gardening is concerned.

A start was made for next term at Cubs, now to form it into some sort of order. And I have until spring to get myself back into some sort of order for camps and activity days. I don't want to have to sit on the sidelines.

Mr C and myself last night had a movie night... we chose Movie 43, I thought it was really funny. And that is my review. Not. If you want a classic, linear Hollywood comedy this wouldn't be the film for you. However, if you like sketch based shows linked together with a common theme then this is more your style.

Based on last night's choice we did a 2nd film night! I know! I'm in shock myself. This time we chose Sightseers. So dark. So good, so was the chocolate souffle we ate too.

And even better, this time The Brothers Thing managed to stay quiet and asleep!

Day 2: It's also Mr Cs Birthday

Today is Mr C's 40th birthday... I'm officially a crappy wife. His present didn't arrive in time.

We spent today just down the road from Bumpkinsville in York. I took the Brothers Thing to the Castle Museum and the Jorvik Centre while Mr C got himself some new ink.

Still going strong on the calorie count but then it is only day 2.

After inputting some figures on MFP I appear to have walked off an entire days worth of a normal-sized person's calories this morning. That should have created a nice deficit for the end of the week, whether I get to any scales or not is another matter.

In more girly type news, my nails are finally looking something like being presentable again. It has been a long time. I'm coating them in 24k gold strength nail experts by Avon and used the gel strength base coat too (not to mention the Rimmel white tip and Disco Ball glitter varnish for a bit of sparkle).

Day 1: In the School Holiday House

So it's the first day of the Summer Holidays.

Mr C is home, the boys are home, I spent this morning attempting to stop one child imploding and the other from being bored.

We collected Mr C's new garden toy yesterday (a cylinder lawn mower), so a portion of the morning saw him attempting to tame the gazelle-filled jungle out there.

By the time I got back from doing my weekly Granny Chores and collecting the books in from my Avon Customers.

This week is a rare one here at BeeBee Towers, both myself and Mr C is off for a full week... with the kids, we usually plan it so much better than this!

Today we were due to go to York, alas Charlie Boy got there first, tomorrow we were going to Bridlington - guess what happening tomorrow? Yep Charlie and the wife are going there tomorrow. But who knows now that Kate is in labour. Not that it should be making all the headlines it has been for a few twinges.

So, what's a girl to do when she's surrounded by boys in meltdown... She paints her nails with sparkly glitter!

I can only hope that today is due to the weekend the Brothers Thing spent at the Outlaws mixed with a rough day calorie counting...

I have joined the masses in logging my day at myfitnesspal.com, I had been using it previously for logging my fast days, however in a fit of inspiration last night I decided that a fast day was never going to happen with the boys and Mr C all at home at the same time. For my size I get loads of calories to use, yet today I'm still starving. Must be the shock of cutting back again. Especially after falling off the chocolate wagon last night in a serious fashion.

Maybe it will be okay after a decent night's sleep.

Is It Really a Good Friday?

Its generally regarded as bad practice to discuss matters involving religion, politics or sex.

Today religion is at the fore of my mind. The calender tells us that it is Good Friday, the start of the Easter Weekend.

I was raised within the Church of England branch of Christianity. My family weren't huge church goers but were very moral and religious. So I was brought up with very black and white definitions of right and wrong.

Following my heart I was confirmed into the Church on my 17th birthday. Since then many things have made me question my faith.

I feel that this weekend is another example of how, on a whole, the Christian faith isn't so much a belief as an expectation.

The country seemingly grinds to a halt and the shops alter their trading hours. So you are affected whether or not you believe that Jesus died for our salvation or this this religions festival (much like Christmas) is imposed on you.

Officially Good Friday is a Bank Holiday in the UK, its a day when Christians commemorate the crucifixion of Jesus Christ and his death at Calvary. Easter Week draws to a close with Easter Sunday. The day when Jesus rose from the dead. This is a time of joy and celebration, and Easter Eggs.  As a parent the issue of Easter eggs makes me quiet uncomfortable.

I do not wish to be a hypocrite, I have some problems with this:


Why if I don't believe in 'God' do I celebrate Easter?
Why do I abstain from eating flesh on Good Friday?
Why do I feel the need to share Easter Eggs?
Do I teach my boys that Easter is about celebrating the life, death and Ascension of Jesus, when my brain is thinking 'really? Like that could happen!'

I am not dismissing religion, it is a fantastic tool that helps many people cope and offers guidelines on how to live a moral life. Religion is a belief that connect people across ages and races. However, religion is also the crux behind all major conflicts. Just look at the battles in Gaze, and the Muslim/Christian divides (which in my opinion shouldn't exist as for the main part Christians and Muslims share the same basic code and religious texts).

Then again way back when Christianity hadn't yet arrived in Britain the main belief was Paganism (not just one religion but a heading for many) the egg was seen as a symbol of the rebirth of the Earth. Spring was the time when the day's were longer and lighter, we could work on the land and the vegetation around us were coming back to life.

Tradition, dating back to then observes eggs - often chicken - dyed or panted being gifted as a celebration of this new beginning. This has been replace more recently by chocolate eggs in colourful wrappings. So really I shouldn't have problem with this as it pre-dates Christianity.

So Easter time is also a period of 'rebirth' be it for the seasons or of Jesus for his followers.

Eggs are a symbol of this 'rebirth' adopted by the church from more ancient beliefs.

I have no problems with my children learning about the Christian believes (just as well as they will attend C of E school until secondary school. it is my role to introduce them to other religions too. If they choose to believe it will be their choice. I have a mish mash of a belief system. I er towards karma and being a 'good' person as what you put out there comes back three fold. I also find myself drawn to the 'new age' ideals of The Secret and other similar movements which are heading back towards pre-Christian 'Pagan' beliefs.

But overall I believe that is my role to be the best me I can be and to Glitter and Sparkle.

For those of you who celebrate: Happy Easter x

A Day of Opportunities

It's been a strange old day, had a usual order to fill for Fozzy's Cafe and halfway through that I get a phonecall to cater for a YCA buffet - on Thursday! Eek panic stations ahoy lol.

So it's the end of the Christmas break and as of tomorrow we are almost back to reality here. Not necessarily a good thing as it took me two weeks to get used to them all being here and now it's going to feel really strange. At least school should be back on Thursday so I can get my buffet together in peace.

Tomorrow I also get to see some friends for the first time since before Christmas and see just how kind the New Year has been to me!

After being on Twitter a fair bit today (oops, but hey it keeps me sane!)  and got into a discussion about Sushi, personally I love the stuff, my favourite being either a maki roll or a cali roll mmm even typing the words makes me want to. So, I have found two more things to add to my things to do in 2011!

The Maki Roll

 


The Cali Roll

  









4. Learn how to make my own sushi.

and
 
5. Teach my husband how to cook 4 dishes. (His culinary skills can only be described as sandwich maker and general warmer uperer.

And in a fit of domestic goddess I also made a Pecan and Banana Loaf (you can find the recipe in here http://beebeesrecipes.blogspot.com/2011/01/pecan-and-banana-loaf.html) which I'm about to partake in with a lovely cup a char mmm.