My May goals & plans!

I’m carrying on with my monthly goals and plans because writing things down really gives me that little kick up the bum to actually get things done. I always feel more motivated when I have a list to look at instead of just thinking I should probably do that at some point. When it’s written down it feels more official, like I’ve made a little promise to myself.

I ticked a lot of things off my April goals list but not as many as I would have liked. I don't want to make excuses but Ellie was off college for 2 weeks, there was Easter and Stu had some time off work too which left me all out of whack, I didn't get many days home alone.

Paint the doors in the living room - Nope, I wanted to do it while everyone was out

Use the washing line - Yes, apart from when the weather out wasn't great.

Wash the cushion covers and curtains in the living room - Yes!! I actually got sent a press release mid-month saying 1 in 5 British adults have never washed their curtains! Eek! Well I am not one of those 5 now. lol

Have a family day out - I had days out with my youngest, my fella but not my eldest. She was way too busy enjoying life seeing Mamma Mia in the theatre and seeing Alex Warren in concert.

Read more audiobooks - Yes, I listened to 4 and partly listened to another which I didn't finish.

Sit outside with a drink on sunny mornings - Sometimes but not as much as I would have liked.

Watch four more movies that are new to me - Yes! 2 of the Suicide Squad movies, A Man Called Otto, Anaconda and my favourite was I Swear about a young man with Tourette syndrome who eventually becomes a campaigner to increase public awareness. I laughed and cried all the way through. It was brilliant!

Get my little greenhouses out of the garage - Yes and I am thinking about putting plants in them but I am wanting it to warm up a little more.

Do some baking - No!

In May I want to:

Move the plants outside!

Hopefully this month warms up a bit and I can move my plants out of the kitchen outside into my little greenhouses. I will need to repot some of them into bigger pots and hopefully that goes well.

Get Becky to declutter her bedroom!

Becky's bedroom is cluttered and it's annoying me. I know I can just close the door and ignore it but I still know the clutter is there. Becky agreed it is time to have a good sort out in her room but I know what she is like and will put the job off and that is where I will step in and start the nagging. I will even help her if she wants. lol

Write a day in my life post!

It has been ages since I wrote a day in the life post and I think it's about time I wrote another, I might actually write two. An average stay at home day and a day when I am out and about doing things.

Read more audiobooks!

I am still loving them and two that I have been on the waiting list for a while will become available to me in May. This Book Made Me Think of You and The Astral Library. I am aiming again to listen to four again this month.

Watch four more movies that are new to me!

I am enjoying watching movies which are new to me, especially those that I wouldn't normally watch.

Do some baking!

I must do some baking this month because the baking supplies really do need using up now.

Spend more time outside!

I feel like I should spend more time outside. I have plenty to do in the garden, I am determined to go on more walks and I want to spend some more time at my dad's. He is always working outside so it would be fun to hang out with him more.

Make some plans for the summer!

We have no plans at all for the summer and I think that needs to change. It would be nice to have a couple of nights away but that depends on what the girls have got planned. Some days out would be nice too. I really want to go to the seaside. It's been too long since I was last at a beach.

Paint the doors in the living room!

This is going back on the list, May should be a quieter month at home so I should be able to get them done. The doors aren’t terrible but they are looking a bit worn and scuffed, so a fresh coat of paint will make a big difference.

What do you have planned for May?

The Wednesday Hodgepodge #53

I hope you are all having a good week. It's Wednesday, which means it's time to join in with the Wednesday Hodgepodge with Joyce who blogs at From This Side of the Pond! Each week there are 6 questions, we answer and then link up. Simple!

1. Are you feeling more reset, restart, or full speed ahead as we move into May? Tell us why.

I'm feeling full speed ahead at the moment. I’ve just got over a cold and I didn’t realise how much it had knocked me and slowed me down until I started feeling normal again. I am now feeling energised and I have a lot of motivation for the week ahead. I’m writing this on a Sunday afternoon and I've just written a list of jobs that I want to get done this week, house things, online things and some jobs around the garden. I was also writing my goals and plans post for May which makes me excited about a new month.

2. Painting, sculpture, architecture, literature, cinema, theatre, music...what's your favorite form of art? Elaborate.

I think cinema and music are my favourite. They feel easy to dip into. I can stick a film on in the evening and be pulled into a different world for a couple of hours or have music playing while I’m cooking, cleaning or even just sitting doing nothing. A song can change your mood so quickly. You can go from feeling a bit meh to suddenly singing along in the kitchen in the best mood. I like that you don’t need to learn how to enjoy cinema or music, with things like painting or sculpting there is more effort involved with learning how to enjoy them. I do feel like I’m slowly getting more into literature due to the discovery of Audiobooks. I know some people turn their nose up at them and say it’s not the same as reading but I don’t really care. It works for me, I can listen while doing other things.

3. What time is dinner at your house? How do you feel about leftovers?

Dinner at our house is usually around quarter to seven, Tuesday to Saturday when Stu gets in from work. On the other days it’s a bit earlier, at around 6pm. It just makes sense for us all to eat together when my fella gets in. I did try doing two sittings at one point. The girls would eat earlier and then Stu and I would eat later when he got in. At the time, it sounded like a good idea but in reality, it just meant I was stuck in the kitchen for way longer than I should have been.

Myself and my family love leftovers. If there’s anything left from tea, my fella will usually take it to work the next day for his lunch. It saves making something else and it’s always nicer than a boring sandwich. Some meals taste better the next day. Things like casseroles always taste so good once everything has had time to sit and soak into each other, pizza is another one and anything that took me ages to cook the first time feels even better when I'm just reheating it.

4. What's the last thing you fell down a rabbit hole investigating?

I saw online that a guy, Darrell Sheets took his own life. I used to watch him on the TV show Storage Wars years ago. That led me down a rabbit hole investigating where the rest of the cast from the show are now. It then got me thinking about the show Ice Road Truckers, which I used to watch around the same time and where all the cast are now.

5. And now for a question from the book Marilyn (Memphis Bridges) gave me... At what are you 'self-taught?'

There is quite a lot when I think about it. Cooking is a big one. I’ve never had any proper training or lessons. It’s just been years of trying recipes, guessing measurements, adjusting things and hoping for the best. Gardening is another. I’ve picked things up over time but a lot of it is trial and error. Blogging is probably the biggest thing I started with no clue. I didn't follow a guide and had no plan when I first started. I just jumped in and figured it out as I went along and I am still figuring it out 13 years later. Then there’s parenting. No one really taught me how to be a parent. I read books, looked things up online, asked for advice but it's one of those things you mostly learn by doing it.

6. Insert your own random thought here.

Thanks to writing this blog post, I am now watching Ice Road Truckers. It reminded me to have a look at who was streaming it. I found the first 4 seasons on ITVX which will keep me going for a while. Ice Road Truckers is a reality TV show about truck drivers hauling supplies across frozen lakes and remote winter roads in places like Alaska and Canada. It follows the risks they take, thin ice, brutal weather and long isolated journeys.

Surviving social media as almost a middle-aged Mam!

You’d think, after spending over a decade faffing about online, I’d have cracked the whole social media thing by now. No, not even close! Half the time I’m just clicking things and hoping for the best while my girls are there swiping, posting, editing and filtering like they were born with ring lights attached to their tiny new born heads. I try a filter and end up looking like a cross between a cartoon koala and a woman who hasn’t slept since 1992. My girls can pop on a filter and look like supermodels. Eesh! Surviving social media isn’t just about figuring out how to press the right buttons, it’s also about the weirdness of being a parent in the digital age.

When I finally got the hang of Facebook, uploading photos without accidentally tagging the wrong people, my girls had already moved on. Instagram was their world, then Snapchat and then suddenly TikTok took over. By the time I’ve downloaded the latest big thing, they’ve already declared it cringe and have stopped using it! My 18 year old can spend three hours on TikTok, learn ten new dances, a recipe for pasta I’ve never heard of and a conspiracy theory about why pigeons aren’t real. Me, I’m still figuring out why my For You Page thinks I want to see endless videos about home decluttering when clearly my house proves otherwise. hahaha I have given up trying to catch up and keep up!

I’ve noticed there are two versions of me. The real life mam who wears PJ's lots, I nag about laundry and make sure the fridge isn't empty and then there is the social media mam posting cute pictures of family meals, looking weirdly happy in every selfie and pretending I don’t have a pile of washing behind me. The problem is my girls see straight through it. My 23 year old will say liar if I post a spotless kitchen shot because she knows I shoved three pans and a rogue spatula out of the way. I’ll take what I think is a lovely photo of my garden or my cuppa and Instagram acts like I’ve posted something really awful all while someone my girl's age posts a blurred picture of their shoes and gets 600 likes. I asked my girls why my posts flop and they said it’s because you post like a mam, not helpful!

Being a parent in the social media era comes with a whole new set of worries too. I’m not built for this level of stress. I didn’t grow up with people messaging me at all hours, location tags, strangers following you or disappearing photos. Half of my parenting now feels like detective work. Who’s that person commenting heart eyes? Why is your location on? Do you know that person? Why is your Instagram private but your TikTok isn’t? My girls say I’m paranoid but I do like to know who they are connecting with online. They try and switch it back on me about my safety where my blog is concerned but most people who read and comment here are other bloggers, are open about who they are and those who try to be Anonymous really aren't. lol

If you want a real adrenaline rush, don’t bother with skydiving. Just try posting a comment on your young adult's photo on social media! hahaha! If I say "So pretty!" it gets deleted within seconds, followed by a DM saying, "Don’t embarrass me." If I say "Omg you look amazing!!!" I’m trying too hard, the safe option is a single emoji. A thumbs up or a heart. Even then, there’s a 50/50 chance I’ll get told off for picking the wrong one!

The platforms can’t quite figure me out. I'm there for the family updates, recipes, the memes and some random shopping ads but TikTok thinks I’m a fitness enthusiast, a skincare addict, a wannabe gardener and someone who urgently needs a stairlift. My girls feeds are slick and perfectly curated. Mine looks like a jumble sale with the occasional inspirational quote thrown in.

The weirdest part of being a parent on social media is watching your worlds collide. One minute I’m chatting with friends that I have known for years about how quickly time flies. The next, I’m looking at my girl's posts and realising they have a hundred people liking their photos in less than an hour and apparently they know most of those people! It’s bizarre and all I can do is hope they remember my number one rule: Don’t post anything you wouldn’t want me, your Grandad or your future boss to see!

For all my moaning, social media has its upsides. It’s how I keep up with my kids lives without nagging them for updates. I get to see what they’re proud of, what they’re into and what they're laughing at. It also keeps me connected with friends, gives me ideas for meals when my brain’s gone blank and occasionally makes me laugh so hard I cry.

Surviving social media as an almost middle-aged parent isn’t about being perfect, trendy or up to date with every new app. It’s about finding your balance. My kids might laugh at me for my dodgy hashtags or my habit of oversharing pictures of my garden but that’s fine. I’ll keep posting, keep scrolling and keep embarrassing my children with the occasional over enthusiastic comment.

Do you manage to keep up with all the social media trends that your kids do?

Our weekly meal plan! 27th April - 3rd May #MealPlanningMonday

Happy Monday! I hope you have all had a good weekend. Ours was a quiet one. Becky came back from her travels on Friday evening and we had a lot of catching up to do. She ordered a pizza just after she arrived home and was that busy telling me about her adventures that I had to say stop, get something to eat! lol The pizza came in handy as she had the leftovers before she went to sleep for her night shift. It meant no cooking for her on Saturday morning.

Last week's meal plan went pretty well. We ate most of the meals and of course, our favourite was the sausage casserole. My family do love it. The Thai style pork patties have been bumped to this week because we had to eat some chicken which needed using up last week, now the mince for the patties needs using up. This week I thought I had ordered a Gousto box. I remember putting the meals in the basket but I couldn't have gone any further and checked out. Oops. I only realised on Saturday when I didn't get my usual text saying it would be delivered between so-and-so time. I order one off boxes every week instead of subscribing to a weekly one, as I know I would forget the other way and get one delivered when we don't want one. lol

I have a few plans for this week, gardening being my main one. The plants on the kitchen windowsill need putting in larger pots and I am going to start putting them outside during the day and bringing them back in at night to harden them up a little before they fully move outside.

On the menu this week we have:

Monday - Thai style pork patties with sweet potato wedges and salad!

This was bumped from last week. It is another one of our favourite Gousto meals which I have made many, many times before. They are so full of flavour and always go down well.

Tuesday - Sausages in buns!

Not a sausage sandwich, more of a hot dog style meal with fried onions, mustard and ketchup. We will probably have them with fries or onion rings.

Wednesday - Quiche and salad!

I feel like I have jumped into our summer meals this week; quiche and salad is usually a summer thing for us. It's not even that warm here at the start of the week but I feel like we should be eating lighter meals.

Thursday - Salmon, Broccoli & Pea Risotto!

This sounds fancy but it's not. It's a meal in a bag from Iceland where you just pop everything in a pan and let it heat up and then serve!

Friday - Chippy tea!

Friday night is a chip shop tea! No cooking, no fuss and the biggest drama is deciding what we fancy. Last week I had fish, chips and mushy peas and it was so good. This week I am thinking about getting a battered burger with chips and gravy.

Saturday - Pizza!

It could be homemade or it could be out of the freezer. Who knows? It depends on the plans for the day.

Sunday - A help yourself evening!

I have no plan for today and everyone can just help themselves to whatever they fancy. Last week I think we all ended up having toasted sandwiches.

What are you eating this week?