Happy New Business Year

Yes, I am procrastinating.  I have one more assignment to do before my Kindermusik course is finished, it needs to be done by Sunday and it is the budget assignment.  It will be weird to complete as I have decided not to do Kindermuik at the moment, but they have provided me a good base for setting up a business and how to run a music and movement session, which has been helpful.

Starting up Little Sprout's Music Studio has proven really difficult.  I didn't think it was going to be easy, but I didn't realize how easily I take two steps back before going three steps forward.

There is so much free advertising, but the time it takes a huge amount of time to set it all up, and then, you are just one fish in a sea of millions.  Facebook, Twitter, Meet Up, Linked-In, google places,  etc., not to mention free websites such as Blogger and Wordpress.  And then the loads of sites you can pay for like Facebook, Google Adds and local sites.  I can see why people pay others to build sites and set up their social networks.

I have absolutely no money for my business and there is no way I can get a loan.  At first I was using my job at Costa to supplement some of the starting costs, but then I quit (yes, I finally quit), so I have left myself rather poor.

The ups and downs of starting a business has left me quite a mess.  One minute people are happy to help and talking of ways they can help and saying how great you are and then the next they don't really have the funding or have the funding but need to push you a head of what I am ready for pushing me to make decisions that I regret later.  I was not ready for the roller coaster.

I am still working on getting a space to do a Little Sprout's class.  I have found work with a group called Weeny Boppers at a nursery and I also do one at a children's play centre, but these are not Little Sprout's and so my business isn't getting out there.  I still do the library, but again, they don't really want me advertising paid classes.

I am still pushing on, and have bought some new instruments and other items that would allow me to do a class without having to borrow anything from anyone.  That feels pretty good.

Imbolic 2011

How are your New Year's Resolutions going?  Mine are going; getting there.  I have decided that resolutions are to be eased into and hopefully by the end of the year they have integrated into your daily life.  Almost every customer at my work who began ordering Skinny Lattes, which have 115 calories (no one thought to move to a skinny cappuccino with 58 calories), are back to their daily Latte, which have 128 calories.  I can rant on and on about dieting, but I won't (right now at least).

I love taking the Pagan out of Imbolic and just thinking of it as a Resolution check point (I thought I had wrote a blog on this last year but as it happens I only did in 2010).   Only part one of my resolutions are important at the moment.  The rest of my list were things that would be good to do, but weren't really resolutions per se.

I am going to try to change my laziness.  In order to do this I have a couple of resolutions that are directly related.

• Stop walking over crap on the floor.  If I come upon something on the floor that shouldn't be there, I will pick it up, throw it in the bin, or put it away.  At least get it off the floor.
• Stop throwing clothes on the floor.  This includes my jacket when I walk in the door.
• At night, do a basic pick up and get the Sprout to help.

I am doing a much better job of not walking over things that need to be picked up.  I am still not perfect, but I have always been a believer in my Auntie Lish's advice,: "If you pass something more than three times, the item becomes invisible".  At the moment I may pass something two times but will pick it up on the third.  I am hoping to pick up the "never leave a room empty handed" habit, but first I need to get organized.

I am finally on my vacation, which I was forced to take as the tax year ends soon and "if you don't use it, you loose it".  So I closed my eyes and picked a date, and then my boss said "no, you can't have that date" so I gave another date, and so on, until we worked it out.  Anyway, I am hoping to get some low budget organizing done.

I was doing really well not throwing my clothes on the floor, but I recently hit a little bump.   I will start again tomorrow when I do my weekly upstairs deep clean.

The basic pick up thing has yet to start.  I usually put the Sprout's toys in a box at night, but not always.  And he usually isn't around to help.  He will help if asked though, it is very cute.  During my break, I am going to go through all of his toys and clothes and sort it all out.

I know that to most people, these resolutions look easy, but they aren't to me and my personality.  As my mom always said, I leave a "slug trail," and boy is this true. Before the Sprout was about, I had turned into quite the good house-wife, but I easily turned into a cluttered mess and now I can't find anything and I get horribly frustrated.  These three resolutions are based on bad habits that I easily default to if not checked (kinda like looking at the keys when you type), so if I ace these things, I know I will be much happier.

New years quiz 2011

Right.  So I started writing this at thanksgiving and still haven't finished it.  I am having a horrible time being on the internet and not researching something to death or buying something, so I have been trying to stay away for awhile.  Plus, it is amazing how 15 min turns into 3 hours and all of the Sprout's nap time is gone.

I will start off by stating my resolutions for 2012.

I am going to try to change my laziness.  In order to do this I have a couple of resolutions that are directly related.

• Stop walking over crap on the floor.  If I come upon something on the floor that shouldn't be there, I will pick it up, throw it in the bin, or put it away.  At least get it off the floor.
• Stop throwing clothes on the floor.  This includes my jacket when I walk in the door.
• At night, do a basic pick up and get the Sprout to help.

Now for the things I think would be good.

• Bake a loaf of bread 2 x a month.  I would eventually like to only eat home-made bread.  I got Richard some bread making items, so I hope he can help me with this.
• Cook something from one of my cookbooks or online blogs once a week.
• Start doing some kind of relaxation for at least 1/2 hr a day.
• Find a way to get more intensive exercise into my schedule.
• Spend less time on the internet.

And lastly..

• FINISH MY QUILT.

And now the quiz.   I did not finish it, and I deleted allot of things because I think they are stupid.

1. What did you do in 2011 that you’d never done before?

I won a random drawing for £400.  And I spent it all in a week on stupid stuff.

2. Did you keep your new year’s resolutions, and will you make more for next year?

Yes, I got my UK driver's license and I got my UK Indefinite Leave to Remain Visa.

3. Did anyone close to you give birth?

Not this year, but 2 for the next.

4. Did anyone close to you die?

No.

5. What countries did you visit?

Visited my parents in the US in June.

6. What would you like to have in 2012 that you lacked in 2011?

I am going to work on self discipline. Also I would like to have a real vacation.  We are going to try to save up to rent a car.

7. What dates from 2011 will remain etched upon your memory, and why?

8. What was your biggest achievement of the year?

Getting my driver's license, for sure!

9. What was your biggest failure?

10. Did you suffer illness or injury?

Nope...just stupid back problems.

11. What was the best thing you bought?

12. Where did most of your money go?

Besides bills I spend allot of money on the Sprout.  I LOVE buying him things.

13. What did you get really, really, really excited about?

Getting my driver's license.  And wining £400.

14. What song will always remind you of 2011?

15. Compared to this time last year, are you: a) happier or sadder) thinner or fatter) richer or poorer?

16. What do you wish you’d done more of?
Camping

17. What do you wish you’d done less of?

Stressing out over stupid things...and spending money.

18. How did you spend Christmas?

With the Osborne family at my house.  Breakfast, presents and dinner.

19. What was your favorite TV program?

Breaking Bad still remains my favourite.

20. What was the best book you read?
I really enjoyed Michael McIntyre's auto biography.  Nothing fancy, but horribly funny.

21. What did you want and get?

22. What did you want and not get?

23. What was your favorite film of this year?
Hannah, I think.

24. What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you?
I was 33 and my husband and I went to the Washington coat for the day while the Sprout stayed at home with his Grandpa and Aunties.

25. What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying?

Seeing more of my family.

26. How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2011?

Sloppy as always.

27. What kept you sane?

What does that mean?

28. What political issue stirred you the most?

Budget crisis and the stupid American Republican stuff.  In the UK the education fee hikes and the London Riots.

29. Who did you miss?

My family.

31. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2011.

The most important human trait, that we all have but tend to not utilize is kindness.

New Year's Quiz 2010

1. What did you do in 2010 that you’d never done before?

Something not baby related let's see...Saw a lunar eclipse.

2. Did you keep your new year’s resolutions, and will you make more for next year?

My resolutions were to  get my UK driver's license and take the Life in Britain Test.  I did not do either, however, I passed my driver's theory test and took a couple of driving lessons.  This year I will have to take the Life in Britain Test for my British citizenship (which I have to do...goodbye £1000).  When I get some money I will take more driving lessons and hopefully get a license.

3. Did anyone close to you give birth?

Yes, both my sister's in law had baby girls

4. Did anyone close to you die?

My great Aunt Betsy died in December.

5. What countries did you visit?

The U.S, 2 times with the Sprout

6. What would you like to have in 2011 that you lacked in 2010?
Same as last year...FUN...for some reason I have forgotten how to have it.

7. What dates from 2010 will remain etched upon your memory, and why?

Camping with E and the Sprout.  We had such a good time.

8. What was your biggest achievement of the year?

Passing my written driving test and actually getting around to taking a couple of lessons.

9. What was your biggest failure?

Staying at my job.  I looked and looked for new work, but have not been successful.

10. Did you suffer illness or injury?

Nope...just stupid back problems

11. What was the best thing you bought?

Plane tickets home and the Sprout's American citizenship.

12. Whose behavior merited celebration?

13. Whose behavior made you appalled and depressed?

14. Where did most of your money go?

Student Loans and baby stuff...AGAIN

15. What did you get really, really, really excited about?

The Sprout doing almost everything.  Walking has been the most exciting though.

16. What song will always remind you of 2010?
I didn't listen to much music this year.

17. Compared to this time last year, are you: a) happier or sadder) thinner or fatter) richer or poorer?

Happier, thinner, poorer.

18. What do you wish you’d done more of?
Camping

19. What do you wish you’d done less of?

Sitting around watching TV.

20. How did you spend Christmas?

With Richard's family.  We opened presents in the morning at our house then made it to the Osborne's where we had a fantastic dinner followed by games.  It was interesting to have Christmas with the Sprout, however, he wasn't as much fun as I thought he would be.  He wasn't impressed by all the people who wanted to see him.  It was all down to being in a different place with lots of people he doesn't see much of.

22. What was your favorite TV program?

Dexter was good, but Breaking Bad still remains my favourite.

23. Do you hate anyone now that you didn’t hate this time last year?

No

24. What was the best book you read?

I did not read this year.  So I got a Kindle.

25. What was your greatest musical discovery?

The Sprout's drum that lights up when you hit it.

26. What did you want and get?

A new place to live! 

27. What did you want and not get?

A job doing photography because I did not have a driver's license.

28. What was your favorite film of this year?

I didn't get around to see many films.  Although it came out at Christmas 2009, Sherlock Holmes was one of the better films I saw.  I was so excited to see Alice In Wonderland, but I didn't like it too much, same went for Iron Man 2.  I was impressed with The Sorcerer's Apprentice, but it still wasn't the best.  I would like to see The Social Network, and I have a list I have to see before the Oscars.

29. What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you?

I turned 32.  We didn't do anything.

30. What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying?

Having my parents close by.

31. How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2010?

Sloppy as always.

32. What kept you sane?

The Sprout surprisingly and being able to go home 2 times. 

34. What political issue stirred you the most?

Same as last year Gay marriage. Why are we banning this?

35. Who did you miss?

My family.

36. Who was the best new person you met?

37. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2010.

"It's always the mom..." quoted from my mom.

38. Quote a song lyric that sums up your year :

Twinkle Twinkle Little Star, How I wonder what you are.

13 weeks and the international traveler

13 weeks old, how can that be?

The Sprout can now:

• Look and follow things
• Smile on demand
• Hold his head up for long periods of time
• Make the cutest little cooing noises
• Be “wiggy” on his back all by himself and be entertained
• Seems entertained by my reading to him and the pictures in his books
• Has moved on to size 2 diapers because he is a whopping 11 lbs (which is killing my back).

Some things that aren’t so great are:

• Wanting to be held when he is done being “wiggy”.
• It is getting almost impossible to sneakily put him down when he has fallen asleep.
• His tummy is still in an awful state of constipation and gas.

Some of his favourite things:

• Being walked and rocked
• “Wiggy” time
• The mobile his Grammy got him
• The shadows the cat watches on the wall
• This picture I have on the wall

Walk through the Cemetery by Jasmine Becket-Griffith

After we recovered from our jet lag which left the Sprout crying all night and sleeping all day, he has now settled into a somewhat “big boy” routine of being awake all day, with a short nap or two, and sleeping in 4 hour intervals at night starting from 6 pm to 5 am.

The trip to the US

The trip to the US went by too fast.  It had been a year since I had been home.  It must have been weird to meet my Sprout and have never even seen me pregnant.

The airport and ride on the plane went by easy peasy.  I was so worried, but I now have a new respect for what stewards actually do on the plane.  They don’t just give you food and drinks, they are there to help you and make sure you don’t freak out.  It is hard to remember that there can be a couple of hundred people on a plane and the stewards are there to make sure everyone gets along and enjoys the flight, they are at the forefront of customer service.  The stewards on the American bound KLM/Delta flight from Amsterdam were really great.

Things that made my plane trip better:

• A bulkhead seat with a bassinette.  I can’t imagine having a child bigger than the Sprout on my lap all by myself for 10 hrs.  I was pretty insistent on having a bassinette and then we didn’t use it much, but it was nice to have.
• A sling.  I didn’t even use the stroller except as a trolley for my bags.

Baba sling

• A bottle with formula.  Even though security was extremely tight at Amsterdam, they are really friendly about baby stuff.
• A manual breast pump.  Something happens to your breasts at 30,000 ft.  The pressure seems to make all the milk want to come out.

Avent manual breast pump

• A hooter hider.  I had never had to hide my chest when breast feeding and in such small spaces, using a blanket was really hard, so the hooter hider was really excellent even though the Sprout really didn’t like it.

Bought from Joanna Design on Etsy.com

• And just having a baby.  You get pushed to the front of the line for everything and if you don’t MEN complain, it is so sweet.

The Sprout was an excellent flyer.  He kept to his regular schedule of awake and sleep times with only a few fussy times in between, but he hardly ever cried.

When we got to customs, I had to fill out a visitor form for Sprout because of his British passport, but other than that the transition was smooth.

Being at home was so nice.  I didn’t care that it rained for the majority of the time or that I didn’t spend much time driving, I enjoyed visiting with my family and was glad that they all got to see Sprout for the first time.  It was the perfect way to spend the New Year.

New Year's quiz 2009

1. What did you do in 2008 that you’d never done before?

Had a baby

2. Did you keep your new year’s resolutions, and will you make more for next year?

I did not have any resolutions but this year I want to get my UK driver's license and take the Life in Britain Test.

3. Did anyone close to you give birth?

Yes

4. Did anyone close to you die?

No, thank God.

5. What countries did you visit?

The U.S, though only once this year :(

6. What would you like to have in 2010 that you lacked in 2009?

Fun, for some reason I lacked fun...but I would also like to have a job in my field.

7. What dates from 2009 will remain etched upon your memory, and why?

October 17th-29th when I was in the hospital giving birth to the Sprout.

8. What was your biggest achievement of the year?

Having a baby!

9. What was your biggest failure?

Staying in my crappy job.  I am hoping to do something else this year.

10. Did you suffer illness or injury?

Yes, I was in the hospital for 12 days because the Sprout came early.

11. What was the best thing you bought?

Plane tickets home...and my visa.

12. Whose behavior merited celebration?

My husband for juggling work AND a baby whilst not freaking out.  Also one of my cousins for finally speaking up.

13. Whose behavior made you appalled and depressed?

A couple of family members.

14. Where did most of your money go?

Student Loans and baby stuff

15. What did you get really, really, really excited about?

Having a baby and going to see the Arctic Monkeys and going home, finally.

16. What song will always remind you of 2009? "All the Single Ladies" by Beyonce and not because I like it, but because it was the only song on this year...I mean seriously.

17. Compared to this time last year, are you: a) happier or sadder) thinner or fatter) richer or poorer?

Happier, fatter (though I am told I am supposed to be) and richer.

18. What do you wish you’d done more of?

Archaeology and exercise

19. What do you wish you’d done less of?

Sitting around

20. How did you spend Christmas?

With family.

22. What was your favorite TV program?

Breaking Bad

Mad Men

23. Do you hate anyone now that you didn’t hate this time last year?

YES, YES I DO!!

24. What was the best book you read?

I read loads but cannot remember what I read or which one was the best.

25. What was your greatest musical discovery?

The Raconteurs

26. What did you want and get?

A new place to live! We finally made it out of Bradford!  Oh and the Sprout.

27. What did you want and not get?

I was not able to take a couple of Archaeological job offers that I really wanted to.

28. What was your favorite film of this year?

Zombieland, I am sure there are others but that is the first one to come to mind.

29. What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you?

I turned 31 and I spent it doing nothing...I think we went to dinner and saw Star Trek.

30. What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying?

A better job.

31. How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2009?

Same as last year Sloppy as always, but in maternity fashion.

32. What kept you sane?

Being pregnant.

33. Which celebrity/public figure did you fancy the most?

Why is this a question?

34. What political issue stirred you the most?

Same as last year Gay marriage. Why are we banning this?  And I will add the Medical Insurance issue.

35. Who did you miss?

My family.

36. Who was the best new person you met?

I didn't meet that many people apart from work people and of course they are all cool...

37. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2009.

Stop procrastinating.

38. Quote a song lyric that sums up your year :

You can't always get what you want.  But if you try sometimes, you'll find, you get what you need.

The American Christmas and New Year's Trip

Sandpiper New Years

Click to see pictures

We were very fortunate to be able to get to see ALL of our families this Christmas, in the UK and in the US.

Richard's sister was nice enough to shuttle us down to Beaconsfield so we could spend Christmas Eve and Christmas at the Osborne's house where we opened presents and had a big feast which was followed by a Murder Mystery Game.

Boxing Day we headed to Heathrow to begin our non-stop journey to SeaTac. The flight was uneventful, although Richard was annoyed at the guys getting drunk at the back of the plane.

The trip was only 9 1/2 hours long and we were surprised to see all the snow on the ground that was left from the blizzard at the beginning of the week. Danny and Molly picked us up from the airport and we began the next 10 days of Christmas.

The festivities played out as:

Dec 26th: Mom's House.

Dec 27th: Dad and the Girls at Mom's

Dec 28th: Grandma and Grandpa's House and the Allen Family Christmas

Dec 29-30th: Dad's house with the Girls

Dec 31st-Jan 4th: Sandpiper Resort.

Jan 4th and 5th: Time with D. (who was so nice to drive up from Eugene to see us).

Jan 6th: Back to the UK. We were delayed in SeaTac because of a Blizzard in Paris, but we were only delayed for 3 hours, which gave us less of a lay over in Paris...so that was ok.

As you can see we were really busy, but we had a really good time and I miss everyone.


Please see our pictures up at the top of the post...just click on it.