Journeys Are My Diary

Life, Adventures, Entertainment and more - A little bit of everything blog!

Week 45 – Monday Round-up

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Back to work and back to being miserable! That pretty much sums up last week. Luckily that’s a bit melodramatic, but you get the idea…

Monday to Friday was work and school for all of us. It was the first week back after a few weeks off too, which is always the worst. Work is still up and down as always, except since the chef left at the end of last term, we now have an agency chef – which brings with it, several pros and cons! Anyway, work was meh some days and okay the others.

In all honesty, I don’t remember a lot of what happened this week. I remember that Monday I felt pretty miserable and that it was work related, but otherwise I have no idea what I did in the evening – other than I probably watched TV with Chris and/or wrote blog posts. The girls had Singing Stars after school, that’s pretty much all I know! Tuesday I know the kids were with their dad after school so Chris and I spent time together. Again, sadly I don’t really remember much more. I think I had a blog catch up night though! Wednesday I know Chris was working and the girls and I were at home relaxing. In the evening I had a Lush bath and it was heaven. I tried out loads of new products – all of which I’ll be reviewing on my blog soon.

Thursday Chris was working again and the girls were home so we just chilled out. In the evening, Nat came around and the evening flew by way faster than expected. Amy also sent me a box of Lush which was much appreciated, especially as it had all my favourite things in it! When Chris came home, it was his last shift of his current job. Next week he starts a new job at BT and I think he’s looking forward to it.

Saturday I’d agreed to help my brother move house so Chris and I dropped off the girls at my mum’s at 8.45am and then drove to the storage container to unload all the stuff my brother and his girlfriend wanted. It started to rain midway through and we all got soaked but really it was just the beginning of how the rest of the day would be! We drove to our house and swapped dinning tables, then my brother’s new house to drop stuff off. We went for dinner at Subway (my brother’s treat) and then back to his old house to collect more big furniture. We then headed to his new house one last time to unload everything, before Chris and I headed off. Luckily we weren’t responsible for moving everything, just the large pieces of furntiture. It didn’t take too long and I did catch a few amusing pictures while Chris hoisted my brother up so he could look in the loft!

After dropping off the van, Chris and I headed to mum’s to spend some time with the girls before they were going to their dad’s. I was incredibly tired and really just wanted to go home, but I also wanted to spend some time with Megan and Lily. It was about 6pm when their dad came for them and Chris and I headed straight home. He ordered takeaway and we sat down with a bottle of wine and Indian, to enjoy our evening. We caught up on “The Flash” and “Arrow” but midway through an episode I started to drop off so Chris suggested it was time for bed. It was only 9.30pm and it went so against the grain to go that early, but I agreed, knowing I needed it.

In the morning, we didn’t have much of a lay-in but it was no surprise given what time we went to bed. However we had a nice relaxing morning and just took it easy. I spent majority of the morning planning the next two party’s food and then went to Tesco to pick up a few essentials. In the afternoon Chris and I put up a huge mural on our bedroom wall and then I sorted out all of the Christmas presents I’d already bought and still need to. The girls got home at 3pm and I then hung out with them, caught up on the X Factor and just enjoyed time with them, all before they went to bed. Once Lily was asleep, Chris, Megan and I watched the Finale of “Next Great Baker” and we were pleased with the results. Once Megan was in bed too, Chris and I watched loads more Arrow until we tired enough to go to sleep.

This is the basic round up of my week, but what I do feel like overall is that November is not turning out to be as good as October. I wrote about my dieting issues over at Twice the Mum, but it goes deeper than that really. All the organising, all the motivation, all the blog plans I had during October have stopped now I’m into November. I feel like work, my emotions, everything is effecting my mood and how things are feeling now. I don’t quite know how to get back to the place I was in, but I know I want to.

Week 44 – Monday Round-up

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Today has been a bit of a rough day so hand on heart, I’m not really feeling like blogging today. However I don’t want to get behind, especially on a weekly round-up post. I do apologise in advance though, if I lack enthusiasm or heart, within my post!

This last week was my second week off, out of two. It started with my day in London on Monday, which I posted about earlier this morning. After a really nice day by myself, I came home to my friend Adam who was visiting for the week. Him and Chris had spent the evening together as I was later home than I expected, but we all headed to bed fairly early. On Tuesday, the girls were still with their dad so everyone got a lie-in. When we did eventually get up, we chilled out watching crappy TV before deciding to go get breakfast at Morrisons. After heading back home to chill out some more, Chris got ready for work and then headed out. Not long afterwards Adam and I headed out to Lincoln to do a little shopping, before heading to get the girls from their dad. We went to BHS where I bought a beautiful new diary, to Primark where Adam bought some t-shirts and to Starbucks where we both got coffee. Once we picked up the kids, we all headed home and Adam and I spent the evening with Nat, who popped around for our weekly chat. My brother also made a brief appearance for a quick coffee and chat.

Wednesday was fairly chill for the morning. It was nice to have the girls back but they were lovely and quiet in the morning so we all still got a lay-in again. Chris was off work, which was good as I’d made plans for later in the day and needed him to occupy Adam. After lunch I headed out with the girls to drop them off at mum’s again, then meet Nat from work to go to Costa Bingo’s Musical Bingo Night (which I’ll be posting about tomorrow). We left Lincoln at 3.30pm and got to Birmingham for 6pm. It was then about 11pm when we left and 1.30am before I was home!

The next morning I was incredibly tired! Sadly I needed to be up early and get the girls from my mum. Even once there, I had to wait for their dad to arrive – the girls had left their new toys at his house and he was dropping them off. Unfortunately he forgot which meant we had to wait an hour longer. He did offer to get us lunch at his place of work though, so we headed there to pick them up. I just had a baguette but the girls had sausage and mash. Afterwards we headed home and it was time for Amy to arrive. We met her at the station and then came home, relaxing for the rest of the day. Once the kids were in bed, Adam, Amy and I ordered takeaway and then watched a whole heap of terrible (yet hilarious TV) until Chris came home.

Friday was Halloween and this meant a lot of planning and preparations! After a slow start, I got up and made a list of everything we needed to shop for. The girls and I then headed out to Tesco, to buy everything we needed for the evening party food. We got back and had lunch, before hitting the kitchen. Amy, Olivia, Lily and Megan – all started off by making cakes. However after a while both Lily and Olivia were bored and headed off to sit in the lounge. Amy and Adam helped out at various points but Megan was the only one to stick it out throughout the whole afternoon. I was really proud of Megan, the food and especially the cakes she decorated herself.

For the first hour or so, I let the girls stay up, as all my friends arrived. We ate and chatted – the girls even sang Frozen songs. However when they went to bed, we all moved through to the lounge, started drinking and played “Cards Against Humanity”. I didn’t actually end up drinking anywhere near as much as I thought I would but we did end up staying up till 1.30am.

Again, I managed a lie-in, in the morning. However I deliberately didn’t stay in bed too long as Adam and Amy were still visiting. Once I got up, I tidied the kitchen and then just chilled out. Chris was at work and we had all planned to go to Meadowhall, to break up the day. After lunch we all headed out to Sheffield and spent the whole afternoon in Meadowhall. When we finished shopping, it was about 6pm. Adam caught the train from here as it was nearer than our house, but the rest of us headed home. The girls pretty much went straight to bed and Amy and I ordered takeaway again and watched TV whilst sitting part-chatting and part on our phones and computer. When Chris came home, Amy went to bed and Chris and I sat watching The Walking Dead before going to bed.

Finally it was Sunday and unfortunately I just couldn’t sleep too late. I got up and made a cup of tea, but ended up going back to bed just to read my book. Eventually I did get up but I continued to read my book, trying to make the most of my last day off. At lunchtime the girls and I headed out to take Amy and Olivia to the station, before going shopping to Aldi for our weekly shop. When we got home, Megan and I watched the X Factor as we hadn’t had chance the night before. We then went on to watch The Apprentice before I made them some dinner. Once Lily was in bed, Chris, Megan and I settled down to watch some Cake Boss: Next Great Baker but when the X Factor results came on, Chris headed back upstairs and Megan and I watched it together. When Megan was in bed, Chris came back downstairs and we spent the rest of the evening together, catching up on TV. I felt sad my two weeks were over and I have to admit I was dreading going back to a very unknown situation at work.

This sums up my week and honestly the next one hasn’t got off to a great start. Fingers crossed it will get better… I’ll let you know next week.

Week 38 – Monday Round-up

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Yet another week into the year, or perhaps towards the end of the year, depending on which way you look at it. Despite Lily being ill for some of this week, I have to admit its felt like a much better and less busy week. I now only have four more weeks of work (still counting) before I’m off for a couple and right now it can’t come soon enough!

Monday to Friday was work as usual for me and school for the kids – at least for the most part. Lily came down with earache and a sore throat during the night on Wednesday and this resulted in a trip to the doctors and both Thursday and Friday off school for her. Megan also ended up off school on Thursday, complaining of a headache that was making her sick. I think it had cleared by mid-morning as she was certainly feeling better later in the day and she was back to school on Friday.

The main things of note this week have been – finally planning Florida a bit more. I actually sat down with my guide book and started to read through it. I’m less than half way and I already have loads of post-it notes stuck in it.

Mum also came around on Sunday and we talked and planned a lot more. We also officially booked our park tickets for both Disney and Universal and so now I just have to work on paying back the money to her!

– Growing up! Tuesday night Megan went to an Open Evening at a secondary school. This seemed a fairly big and daunting thing, a reality check that she’ll be starting “big school” in two years time. However she seemed to thoroughly enjoy it and also we all went out for dinner at Woodcocks just beforehand, so that was really nice too. She has another one this coming week and we’ll be keeping our eye out for other ones in the future.

– Crafting. Wednesday we were without internet for majority of the evening so I actually ended up doing some sewing. Sadly it all went a bit wrong and I gave up but its the thought that counts! I also ordered some material for one of Amy’s birthday or Christmas gifts and samples of some Harry Potter material arrived on Saturday so that got me searching and thinking about more dress ideas.

– Lion King!!!! I posted about this yesterday so go take a read! It was amazing and awesome and of course Disney-rific! I had a great day and of course catching up with Amy was nice too.

– Besties. Obviously I mentioned Lion King with Amy but I also saw Nat on Friday night too. It was great to have a good chat, catch up and somehow talk endlessly for hours. I guess that’s what best friends do though.

Other than that, my week has been fairly steady. Work was pretty much the same as always. The girls had Singing Stars on Monday after school but otherwise their week was normal (other than being ill). Chris was also at work and as with the last few weeks, he’s working all day shifts or evenings so I’m not seeing an awful lot of him. Saturday I was out all day and the girls were with mum. Sunday the girls came home with mum and she stayed pretty much the whole day, planning Florida. The girls and I watched Hercules on Thursday night but otherwise I haven’t done a whole lot of TV watching or reading this week. Chris and I did treat ourselves to an Indian and watched Riddick though, late on Sunday night.

This coming week is likely to be a little busier but at least life feels like its settling down a little now. Here’s to seeing out another week at work – hopefully a weight loss – and then one less week on the countdown to half term!

The Lion King – Sunderland

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Yesterday I went to Sunderland and met up with Amy, for the main purpose of going to see The Lion King. It was something Amy had been given 2 tickets for and she very kindly offered for me to be her plus one.

I left the house at just gone 10am and with a quick stop at Tesco for some cash, I set off on my two and a half hour journey. The day was pretty dreary and about an hour in, it started to rain. The window screen wipers gave me a hell of a headache but aside from that, the journey was pretty good. I arrived at The Bridges shopping centre at about 1am and after figuring out where I was, I text Amy to meet up. We headed straight for Starbucks to get a coffee and a sandwich, before hitting both The Disney Store and Primark before the show. We made our way to the Empire Theatre where the Lion King was being show and found our seats in the Dress Circle.

The show began now long after we were seated and honestly it was fantastic. I’m going to say something that will be frowned upon I’m sure – but in my opinion, The Lion King is a very overrated Disney animated film. It is probably one of my least favourite movies and because of that, I’ve never really been interested in seeing the stage production. However, theatre is something I absolutely love and adore and right from the curtain up, I was pulled into the show. From the very first scene – The Circle of Life – I felt very emotional. The scenery, sets, costumes, music and EVERYTHING, is really just spectacular. Though the pace at times felt a little bit slow, the majority of additional bits (i.e. not in the movie) were very good, though I did find the odd song here and there a bit tedious. I cried when Mufasa died and I cried when Nala and Simba were falling in love and finally I cried again when Simba went back home to take his rightful place. The whole show was incredibly moving and emotional and I was pleased to have taken the opportunity to go and see it.

As a blogger its always a little bit disappointing when you aren’t allowed to take pictures of things you enjoy, but at the same time I can appreciate why they ask you not to in the theatre. However the sets and costumes are really something that photographs wouldn’t do justice too anyway as you really just have to see it all in action. I bought both the program and the souvenir brochure, so that I can remember the day, but I’m sure I’ll be taking the kids in the future. Amy and I also bought ourselves a Lion King cup which we had our Diet Pepsi in at the interval.

All in all, the show was amazing. Special mentions must go out to Scar, Zazu and Timon, as they were my personal favourites. However Young Nala, Mufasa, Pumbaa and Simba all deserve a mention too. The cast was incredible, as was the music. Really, I can’t speak highly enough about the show!

Finally, when the production finished, Amy and I headed outside and back to the Shopping Centre. Everything was beginning to close so we went back to my car, dumped all my bags and then paid for my parking ticket. We said goodbye, though its nice to know it wouldn’t be too long before we saw each other again, then went our separate ways. I drove the majority of the way home in one go and thankfully it didn’t rain the whole way. However I stopped at some services about an hour from home and grabbed an M&S salad for dinner. Finally I headed home, getting in at about 9.15pm – where I just went straight to put my pyjamas on and make a cup of tea.

It was an incredibly tiring day but it was really brilliant. There really is nothing quite like seeing a show at the theatre and every time I go and see one, it just gives me the bug to go and see more. If anyone has any recommendations (except Wicked, Phantom of the Opera, Blood Brothers, Starlight Express, Grease, and probably some others I’ve missed) I’d love to hear them.