December Happenings - Introducing Maya

I can't believe I've missed the last two festive weeks in blog land. I hope that you all had a fantastic Christmas and are enjoying what's left of any time off. I seem to have been living in some alternative world lately, so much has gone on yet we haven't really done too much. We enjoyed a very quiet Christmas this year, the main reason being that Megan and I were both very unwell the week before and I certainly wasn't up to doing anything elaborate. 

There are a distinct lack of photos from this Christmas mainly as I'm the one who would normally take them, but what we do have are lots of photos from our new arrival! 

Two weeks before Christmas (I know how crazy are we!), we drove to Swindon to pick up our beautiful rescue husky Maya. It wasn't perfect timing but she was everything that we'd been looking for and we knew we couldn't pass her up. She is 2/3 years old and when she was taken in was severely underweight. She's still small for a husky and we have some work to do but her foster carers have done a fantastic job in the seven months that they've had her. Can you believe they were looking after eight huskies! Some of them waved Maya off in the window when we took her home! 

The night we picked her up however, Megan ended up in hospital with breathing difficulties due to the sudden onset of a chest virus. She ended up off school for the last week of school and I picked it up aswell. Without wanting to be dramatic I can't remember the last time I was so unwell as it set off the fibromyalgia and I was left bedridden. The doctor told us it was lasting 1-2 weeks in children and 3+ weeks in adults, panic set in as we weren't ready for Christmas at all! Thankfully everyone loves Maya and there was no shortage of people offering to walk her for us. Much to Tim's relief, I was able to get up Christmas Eve (meaning he didn't have to cook dinner). We had as quiet a Christmas as possible with three children and we could start taking Maya to experience lots of 'firsts'. 

The day after Boxing Day we had a child free morning and although the weather was bad I needed to get out if the house and blow away the cobwebs. We took Maya to Ogmore by Sea in the Vale of Glamorgan. It's a stunning coast line where I have a lot of childhood memories and it was nice to create our own. The weather couldn't make up it's mind, when we arrived it was raining but there was the most beautiful rainbow, then the sun reappeared and the wind was biting. 

Maya was rescued from London and had never experienced the beach before and it's safe to say she loved it! I don't think she expected the waves to be as cold but she had fun chasing them and playing with some other dogs. 

As a husky she is a lot of work, she will walk for as long or as often as you will take her and is very cheeky, but the love and cuddles she gives outweigh all of that. I'd thoroughly recommend adopting a pet from a rescue centre, so many animals need a new loving home and it's heartbreaking the numbers that these devoted centres are looking after. We had spent a long time looking for the right dog and spent the whole afternoon with Maya and her foster carers to make sure that she was right for our family. We took her for walks and watched her with children and  the other animals, after all owning a dog is a huge responsibility and not something to do on a whim. The only thing I wouldn't suggest is having a real Christmas tree with a big dog - I seem to spend all of my time sweeping the pine needles! 

How was your Christmas? Are you still on holiday? Have you adopted a pup before? 

Amy

xx

Linking up with IBOT

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas

A predictable post title today I'm afraid! But it really is looking like Christmas around these parts. After this weekend both Christmas trees are up, though the girls seemed to think colour blocking the tree decorations was a good idea on the second tree, which is driving my inner OCD crazy! To counter act, bubbly and Christmas films have made an appearance in the evenings. Friday it was The Holiday and tonight I'm thinking Elf.

Saturday night was spent eating the most delicious mezzé and drinking mistletoe mojitos (cranberry and cinnamon) with the best company. If you're based in the South West of England I'd seriously recommend you try the Mezzé restaurants, we absolutely loved it and can't wait to go back. 

As usual Monday came around too quickly and it's going to be a very busy week around here. Christmas shopping needs to be finished and I've got a very busy working week. With only one week left at my current job I'm trying to put in as much as I can. 

  

Hope you had a good weekend and have a great week ahead. 

Amy 

xx

Linking up with MMG, IBOT

Weekend Words

 

 

I love pinning quotes on Pinterest, I have a board devoted to them and they are my go-to when I'm needing some inspiration or a pick me up. Each Saturday I will be sharing one from my ever growing selection! Please feel free to check out my 'Quotes Board'.

 

Amy

xx

Oh dear Lord......New Kids On The Block and 1989

I live with a 12 year old Taylor Swift obsessed daughter so '1989' is on constant play and I'm sure that you've the '1989' tag that's going around blogosphere at the moment. So, I was reading an article about how Swifty is the only female artist to have bumped herself off the number 1 spot of the top of the Billboard Hot 100 and something about comparing her songs off her album '1989' to those that were actually released that year.

Then it happened......the article (and I can't think for the life of me which publication it was in) proceeded to state that New Kids On The Block released 'Cover Girl' that very year! I instantly felt old!! 25 year old Swifty was born the year that I was bopping around to NKOTB who themselves were moving around the stage in some synchronised fashion, white socks showing (oh the shame) and with hideous choices in shirts. At the same time on the playground debates were taking place over which Knight brother was hottest (Jordan of course) and I was proclaiming that I was undoubtedly going to marry Joey McIntyre...aah the memories!

Now for a trip down memory lane...





 So let's be honest how many of you remembered the words? I couldn't tell you how many years it is since I listened to any of their tracks but they instantly flooded back, I so wanted to be that girl on stage! Oh and doesn't Danny Wood look like Ross Geller? There we go again.... 'Friends' wasn't even a thing yet and wouldn't be for another four years.

I did rediscover the NKOTB guys last night mind and I would seriously suggest checking them out if you haven't recently - boy have they aged well - and yes you're welcome!

So Taylor Swift, as much as I like you and would rather my 12 year old be listening to you than the last obsession that was Little Mix, girls and guitars obviously rule -  I'm not sure that I can forgive you for reminding me of this aging processes that I have embarked on. Although I guess I do have the time to look forward to when Megan looks back at YouTube clips of One Direction or 5SOS and has the same freak out moment!



On a serious note though, I just read that poor Joey lost his mother yesterday. The last few years she had suffered with Alzheimers and after losing my uncle last month who also had the condition can sympathise at how tough it is to watch a loved one deteriorate. Sending love and prayers their way.

Which bands from your childhood / youth make you cringe? I'm off to listen to the rest of Hangin' Tough now I think!

Amy

xx

* disclaimer - obviously this was part of my very short boy-band phase (apart from Take That, can't see me growing out of them) and before moving on to the indie / grunge scene that of course holds no embarrassment at all!

Linking up with IBOT and Random Wednesday



Best Laid Plans

So at the end of last week I said (here) that this weekend would consist of a late Thanksgiving dinner? Yeah, that didn't happen thanks to a kidney infection making its appearance again. Ribs, chips, coleslaw and an After Eight Mint sundae at Beefeater did though, kind of an American theme though right! It did mean though that I managed to stay in bed most of the weekend which is what I wanted, so silver linings!

Oh and I also said herethat Christmas decorations don't happen in our house until December hits - yeah that didn't happen either because as this photo clearly shows, we have a Norwegian spruce parked nicely in our living room!

To be fair though I'm still against Christmas before December, however we worked out that this would be our only opportunity to pick up a real tree until the week before Christmas and I couldn't let my poor daughter wait that long before decorating! I love the shape of the tree and there's something magical about coming downstairs in the morning to the smell of a real tree. It's not fully decorated  yet, that will happen tonight and over the course of the week however we couldn't leave it up overnight without putting a few decorations on it! So yeah, best laid plans and all! I'm pretty glad though as I usually struggle with getting into the Christmas spirit but putting up the tree and Yankee's Christmas collection are certainly doing the trick.

In other news....well there isn't really any, the rest of the weekend was pretty quiet which is just as I wanted. This kidney infection has set the fibromyalgia off and left me unable to do a lot but it did mean that I could lie in bed with the cat, watch the rugby, binge on Nashville season 1 (again), watch more rugby (Way to go Wales!) and eat matchmakers to my heats content! 

And now here we are, December 1st where advent begins. much to Megan's delight that she can now have a chocolate every morning, where the stress of "I'm so unprepared for Christmas, must do better next year" starts and I begin my final few weeks at the museum! I have a feeling December is going to fly by and I can't wait to relax Christmas week :) 

I hope you all had a wonderful weekend, have your festive parties started yet? I know there were a few hangovers amongst my neighbours this weekend!

Amy

xx

Linking up with MMG, IBOT, Random Wednesday