My A-Z of stuff.

I don’t really know where this post is going…I just thought an A-Z of myself would be fun.

A is for anxiety and not letting it consume me.

B is for the unread books that gather dust upon my shelves

C is for my new edition, the adorable kittus cattus.

D is for ducks and their dinosaur like ways.

E is for “ee by gum..I’ll go to foot of are stairs”, because I’m from Yorkshire.

F is for “Friends” and my serious addiction.

G is for gleba.

H is for having never ridden a horse. (Have done this since!)

I is for; Me, Myself and I and how important it is to be a little bit selfish sometimes.

J is for Jenga…because it has been staring at me whilst I wrote this post.

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K is for “I went to the zoo yesterday and now I’m a koala”.

L is for llama and how much I want to be a llama farmer…

M is for meditation. I don’t do it as often as I should even though I know how beneficial it is.

N is for boopable noses!

O is for “Oh my god look at that squishy little puppy nose/kitten paw/fluffy bunny bum/stupid goat face” and anything else cute and squishy!

P is for pancakes! I love pancakes 😀

Q is for Quetzalcoatl. I thought I’d give you something to Google…

R is for really never knowing what on earth I am doing…

S is for singing, one of the ways in which I choose to express myself.

T is for travel. I want to go everywhere! Everywhere!

U  is for Usher’s hands, how creepy are those things?! Eugh!

V  is for vampires and my strange desire to be one…

W is for walking, one of my most favourite things to do.

X  is for Xmas and how much I despise Christmas being unnecessarily being shortened to Xmas.

Y  is for Yemen, if you get it, you get it.

Z  is for zombies and my irrational fear of them. (The zombie apocalypse is coming, Dad!)

Lose your good name – regain it – it’s never the same again. – Irish proverb.

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My top 10 albums

In no particular order…

I thought I would give this a go. I’ve never been a big album listener. I know some people get all orgasmic over albums and they’re all like,

“You’ve NEVER heard [insert big name group album title here] by [big name group]. Wow, you’ve never lived mate”.

F**k off Steve. You’re a legend in your mind and you need to sit down and shut up. It’s an album, calm down.

Some of my album choices may offend you, and by you I mean my Dad.

I don’t even know if I can make it to 10.. let’s see.

  1. Elephant – White Stripes. This album reminds me of being in Spain, with my brother, driving up in to the mountains and being terrified of him almost driving over the edge! Good times.
  2. Smash -The Offspring. Smash and Dookie were mine and my friends soundtrack to our holiday to Australia. We thought we were so cool.
  3. Dookie – Greenday. See above.
  4. Jagged Little Pill – Alanis Morisette. My 90’s.
  5. The Beatles (aka The White Album) – The Beatles. This is the only album where it’s acceptable to be just like ‘Steve the Legend’. If I could only listen to one album for the rest of my life, this would be it.
  6. Be Not Nobody – Vanessa Carlton. Beautiful album, not everyone’s cup of tea but I like it.
  7. Songs About Jane – Maroon5. Definitely their best album, I’ve not heard any of their other albums and I don’t need to because this one is awesome.
  8. Let Go – Avril Lavigne. This is my go to shouty album when I’m tired of Alanis but not quite in the mood to be ‘Offspring’ shouty…
  9. Carry on up the Charts – Beautiful South. Genius!
  10. Come Away with Me – Norah Jones. Ahhh Norah Jones with your sultry tones…

It would seem I can make it to 10. I would definitely struggle to get anymore but I don’t need to because I said top 10!

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“The hunger for love is much more difficult to remove than the hunger for bread”

– Mother Theresa.

Did you know… Winnie The Pooh

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‘Goodbye Christopher Robin’, a true story about a boy and his stuffed animals, whose Dad saw potential for some wonderful, enchanting stories about a tubby bear who loves ‘hunny’!

Winnie The Pooh was always a favourite in our house when I was little and, I used to read it to my son was he was a child. Here are some facts that you might not know about the ‘silly old bear’ and his friends in the 100 acre wood.

  1. The inspiration for Winnie The Pooh was a real life bear and ‘he’ was a she!

  2. The original plush toys which belonged to the real life Christopher Robin are on display at the New York public library. You can see Pooh, Tigger, Piglet, Eeyore, and Kanga. Unfortunately Roo went missing many years ago 😦

  3. Winnie The Pooh has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

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  4. January the 18th is ‘Winnie The Pooh Day’ (A.A.Milnes birthday).

  5. 100 Acre Wood, where Pooh lives with all of his friends, is actually 500 Acre Wood and is a cultivated pine plantation.

  6. Winnie The Pooh is often referred to as ‘Pooh’, ‘Pooh Bear’ ‘Silly old bear’ but never just ‘Winnie’.

AAMilne

How to… Create a CV

There are hundreds, probably thousands of CV templates available out there. You’ll have all sorts of conflicting, confusing advice thrown at you and if you’ve never created a CV before it can be daunting. You want it to be perfect and reflect you in the best possible way.

Writing a CV is not difficult, you have all the information you need, it’s just a case of getting it done.

Many job search sites now have the option to fill out your CV once you’re signed up with them and it is definitely worth doing because it then gives you the option of downloading it. You then have a CV to use elsewhere instead of creating your own.

However, if you do want to create your own I have made an example for you to have a look at here.   <—— Click the text.

A few points for you to remember…

  • The title of your CV should be your name.
  • Try to use bullet points and not reams of text.
  • Do not include reasons for leaving past employment.
  • Do not include salary details.
  • Be professional.
  • Do not include your address.
  • Do not include your DOB.
  • Do not include a photo.

Your opening statement on your CV needs to be pretty awesome. Some companies won’t have time to meticulously go over each individual CV and therefore they will go by the first few lines that you have written about yourself. That’s quite a lot of pressure for 4-5 lines so it’s worth getting it right.

I don’t include education further back than college because personally I don’t think it is relevant for me now. It is very dependent on your age, if you only left school 5 years ago then do include your GCSE’s. My college Diploma and University certificates are more reflective of my abilities than my GCSE grades from over 20 years ago.

Remember you are trying to sell yourself, so don’t leave important achievements out. As tempting as it may be, don’t ever lie on your CV.

If you tell them you’re fluent in French when actually all you can do is tell them you live in a house, how stupid will you look when they introduce you to Jacques from purchasing who will be sitting in on your interview and who moved over to the UK from France just last month…?

Very stupid. So don’t do it.

How to… Write a letter

The art of letter writing is fast becoming a lost art, at least handwritten letters.

However, it is certainly a skill I think we should all learn. I remember my Nana teaching me how to write a letter; where everything should go and where to put the stamp on an envelope and where and how the address should be written.

Things are much quicker these days, there’s email!

Email is great, as I said it’s quicker; it’s easy and it saves paper. There are certain circumstances when you have to write a letter though, be that typed or handwritten, there are certain occasions that call for it.

If you’re going with handwritten it is imperative that your handwriting is legible, nobody wants a scruffy letter that looks like it’s covered in Doctor’s signatures. Also, your spelling and grammar skills need to be strong, if they aren’t it’s probably best to use Word (other document creating things are available). I always make a draft copy of everything I’m doing because I’m pedantic and slightly mad.

As annoying as that little paper clip use to be on Word he had some pretty good ideas, “It looks like you’re writing a letter…” he would say, then space it out for you, tell you where things go, it wasn’t as nice as when my Nana showed me how to do it but it was helpful.

Here I have made a lovely example for you to use as a guide.

Obviously, if you choose to use email instead of the awesome, old fashioned letter writing you won’t need to have the address in the top right-hand corner. Most other details apply though; such as how to address the respondent and how to sign off.

I think that the rules of letter writing are much more relaxed than they used to be and nobody is really going to mind if you sign your letter ‘Yours sincerely’ instead of ‘Yours faithfully’. As long as it’s neat, tidy, polite and you’ve checked your spelling I’m sure you’ll be fine.

A few points to remember…

  • If handwritten make sure you can read it. If you can’t understand it how do you expect them to?
  • Use the correct layout.
  • Check your speling spelling.
  • Check your grammar!
  • Have you used the correct greeting?
  • Have you used the correct sign off?
  • Have you put your address in the right place?
  • Have you dated the letter?
  • Please don’t use slang, yo.

Spelling and grammar checks are just a click away.

Interview attire

Check out my guide to interviews

Interviews aren’t what they used to be.

Gone are the days when it was all white shirts and black trousers. I don’t own a white shirt because I have no use for them, I think the pairing of white shirts and black trousers is dull. It may look smart but there’s no harm in thinking outside the box.

I’ve been to my fair share of interviews and I’ve always loved picking out my outfits for them.

It’s always dependent on the type of job. I’ve been interviewed to be a research assistant, a secretary, a care assistant, a cleaner, a funeral director. The different roles call for different attire, at least I think so anyway.

I thought I would share some of my past interview outfits.

Outfit 1
Outfit 2
Outfit 3

I think a smart jacket it always a great place to start and it can then be teamed with a dress or a top and trousers.

I still tend to stick to quite conservative colours, I wouldn’t turn up to an interview in a bright pink dress and stiletto heels. Mainly because that’s not something I would ever wear anyway, as much as I would love it, I’m not Elle Woods.

Just remember to keep it smart-casual and comfortable, the last thing you want in a nervous situation is to be even more fidgety!

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Also check out My guide to interviews for further incredible insights 😉

Good luck! ♥

Reduce, re-use, recycle: Handy tips for a healthier future.

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I would absolutely love being one of those environmentalist, tree dwellers, living off the land, up-cycling bits of old furniture, no waste etc. No stress, no fuss.

However lets get real, it’s not happening anytime soon and I’m pretty sure Christopher would miss his PS4 after the first hour, Chris would freak out without a proper cup of tea and I wouldn’t be able to regularly post to my blog…

We enjoy life’s luxuries. That doesn’t mean we can’t be conscious of our impact on the environment.

I will recycle everything I can and I hate seeing things being thrown away that can be easily recycled or re-used.

Your local council will have lists of things that can be recycled in your area on their website and they have handy little stickers that you can put somewhere in your kitchen to remind you of collection dates.

Find my local council. (UK only)

By now I imagine that most people have separate bins in their homes. One for general waste (mainly food, sanitary items, things that can’t be recycled) and one for recycling (paper, card, plastic, glass, cans, tins etc.) All recyclable items can now go in the same bin, whereas previously we had to separate them so it’s even easier. Just rinse them (no need to wash them thoroughly or remove labels).

It’s really not difficult and helps to reduce the size of our landfills which in turn cuts down on water and air pollution and reduces greenhouse gas emissions.

In our efforts to recycle more materials we are also creating more jobs across the country. This includes bin collectors and recycling centre workers.

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Reduce, re-use, recycle.

The best way to reduce the amount of things we throw away is to reduce the amount of things we buy. This could take some getting use to and will need some strategic planning if you tend to splurge, or over do it on the food shop.

Cutting down on the shopping.

  • Make a list of everything you buy in a month, then ruthlessly go through that list and cut it by half.
  • Look for products that use less packaging.
  • Never food shop on an empty stomach.
  • Don’t go for 2 for 1 offers if you don’t really need it.

Reducing food waste.

  • Don’t over buy. If you plan your meals in advance you will always know exactly what you need to buy. Check out Budget Mum’s for some meal planning ideas 🙂
  • If you find that you have made too much just freeze the leftovers or keep it in the fridge for tomorrow’s lunch.
  • Get a bird table and give suitable leftovers to the birds. Here’s a good website offering tips for what you should and shouldn’t feed them, Kitchen scraps to feed birds.
  • Invest in a compost bin.

Other ways to reduce waste.

  • Clothes and shoes – I hate to see people throw away clothes, please donate them to a charity shop or organise a clothes swapping party for friends.
  • Donate clothes to animal shelters if they aren’t charity shop worthy or to a friend with fur babies. Some clothes (especially socks with holes) make excellent beds for critters.
  • Instead of throwing away old Christmas cards why not reuse them as Christmas tags for next year?

There are plenty of ways to recycle or re-use many of the items in your home that you might usually throw away. A quick Google search will find you great ways to up-cycle, recycle, reduce or reuse most items in your home. Have fun! And feel free to give me any of your own hints and tips on recycling 🙂

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Top 10 Holiday Destinations

Holiday

I hope you didn’t come here looking for some big shot recommendation, although I am kind of big deal… 😉

I love a good holiday, who doesn’t? I don’t really have a favourite holiday type. Anything that means I don’t have to clean my house for a few days or do any washing is good enough for me.

I am quite happy to sit on a beach, reading a book, sipping a cocktail as long as later on that day I can go scuba diving, maybe swim with sharks? Find a scary rope bridge to walk across?

I can go for a scorching hot week in paradise, a freezing cold snow fest in Alaska, a Bear Grylls adventure in the back of beyond; I just don’t want to cook my own breakfast.

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So here are MY top 10 holiday destinations I am yet to visit….and ones I plan to visit within the next 10 years…

  1. Japan
  2. Iceland
  3. Russia
  4. Canada
  5. Vietnam
  6. Germany
  7. Everywhere in America, other than Florida (but only because I’ve already been there)
  8. Maldives
  9. Bratislava
  10. Switzerland

To be perfectly honest with you, I could answer this question tomorrow and give you 10 completely different answers. That’s not because I’ve lied about this list I just have lots of places to go and at least if I write many different lists I can use them as an excuse to go on lots of holidays 🙂

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The one where you just can’t believe it…

Friends is in the top 10 of my all time favourite programmes, I was at one time, completely obsessed.

There are times when I think back to some of the episodes and cannot understand why they did what they did though.

At the time of watching I was completely naïve, I didn’t really know anything about relationships, I probably thought I did and to be honest I probably learnt a lot of useless s**t from their destructive ways.

I just adored the characters and I know it wasn’t real life, it was hilarious and fun. As much as I shouted at the TV for Ross and Rachel to stay together, the only relationships that made sense were Chandler and Monica and Phoebe and Mike. That was true love right there.

I may get lynched for saying this but Ross and Rachel should not be together. They don’t belong, it’s an explosive relationship that is only heading for disaster. If you keep splitting up with your partner it’s because you shouldn’t be together. The only reason you keep getting back together is because you’re both desperate and don’t want to be alone!

I understand now why my Mum just didn’t ‘get it’, mainly because the whole thing was so unbelievable. Their reactions to situations were slightly off, I know it had to be entertaining but the whole ‘we were on a break’ debacle really irritates me now.

These moments make me wonder what Friends would have been like if social media had been around back then…

It would have been all over Facebook that Rachel had left Barry at the altar and Monica would be judgy as f**k.

All 6 of them would be getting sued by ‘Ugly Naked Guy’ because they’d be filming him and uploading it to YouTube, although he’d probably become an overnight sensation, he’d be a millionaire YouTube star, buy Monica’s apartment block, kick them out and enslave them in his apartment!

Joey would break the internet with an abundance of desperate female friend requests and male too I suppose!

You know for a fact that ‘the hot girl from the Xerox place’ would have been live tweeting from Ross’ apartment when Rachel turned up.

Half of the episodes story-lines wouldn’t even get going because they’d be splashed across social media quicker than you could say “pivot”!

I will continue with my love of this highly ridiculous, completely unbelievable bit of tele and I almost certainly will return to it when I need a good laugh.

I think this quote from Roger sums it all up perfectly! 😉

“Actually it’s, it’s quite, y’know, typical behavior when you have this kind of dysfunctional group dynamic. Y’know, this kind of co-dependent, emotionally stunted, sitting in your stupid coffee house with your stupid big cups which, I’m sorry, might as well have nipples on them, and you’re like all ‘Oh, define me! Define me! Love me, I need love!'”

“Respect your elders”

My three favourite men 🙂

                                   

                                    ‘Respect should be earned, not expected’

Getting children to do as they are told is something we enforce as soon as possible. To save them from getting hurt or to generally keep them safe and follow rules.

Where do we stop though? At what point do we let them start making their own decisions, develop their own moral compass?

Why do we think that we should have all of the control when it comes to children? I know we don’t want them to be disrespectful little s**ts but I think many people think it’s acceptable to enforce power over children due to their own insecurities.

Why should it always be ‘respect your elders’? Shouldn’t we just teach them to respect everyone equally?

I’ve met some “adults” who think it’s perfectly acceptable to order children around and push them about just because they’re younger than them, to me that’s a prefect example of bullying. These so called adults think they deserve respect from the children, well, respect should be earned not expected.

Children learn behaviours from their surrounding adults, so if you treat them badly and talk to them like they are crap,  don’t be surprised when they talk back to you like that. You are not better than them just because you are older, you don’t have the right to be first or have any reason to be heard over them, you’re not more important and you’re most definitely not always right.

This is not the Victorian era, it is the 21st Century, to quote Whitney Houston ‘I believe children are the future’, which of course they are.

There is also this weird thing that people do when they ‘re out and about with their children. They apologise for them, as though they are a nuisance. I will hold my hands up and admit I have done this in the past but I quickly realised that my child is of course not an inconvenience. He is a human and has every right to occupy any space in which he pleases. Yes children can be extremely noisy and annoying and I’m all for child free places and quiet zones on public transport but children are noisy, they always will be. I’m not condoning rudeness and giving them free rein to be obnoxious but generally children will create heightened sounds.

Older humans think that children should move for them, they also think it’s acceptable to push in front of them when children are waiting patiently in queues. The amount of times this has happened to my son is disgusting. And he wouldn’t say anything because he’s polite. Although it might be a different story now, not that he’s not polite, he’s just bigger than everyone and it’s not as easy to pretend you haven’t noticed him.

I don’t know if I’ve gone slightly off topic here and just started to ramble, which I’ll admit does happen with many of my blog posts…but it’s all about my random wonderingments so sometimes I will just type exactly what I’m thinking 😉