And breathe!!!

W finally got there, we are now officially in business. My guests last night had a fab time and they all thoroughly enjoyed the gift bags, candy buffets and orange cupcakes.  I am no however exhausted!!!!  It has all been worth it, because I am to be show cased in a south wales paper this Tuesday.  My launch coincided with the press release sent out from the Princes Trust (they are the ones who helped me launch) and so now they are featuring me.  How fun is that? Well great fun until you realise that the paper are coming at 10.30am Sunday morning to take my photo! Oh come on give me a break!!! 10.30am that's the early hours of the morning for a woman in business who has worked over 90 hours this week.

I will be sure to show you the article probably on Thursday as I am going to be at a retreat the beginning of the next week. 

3 lumps for the price of 1

Sunday was a sorry day for me. I had a fall! Please leave your sympathetic comments at the bottom.  I have been tripping a lot this last few weeks and I think most of it is because I am sooooo tired!!!  I mean you start off with a business idea and then hey presto you are up til Lord knows what hour and your body isn't resting.

Anyway I was walking up the ramp (safe option versus the steps i thought) to my in laws apartment in town when my foot caught in the paving and I fell.  I crashed down to the floor and before the MR could turn around I was crying like a baby.  The first thing I said whilst blubbering was "oh please help me up, don't leave me on this floor" (I know pitiful aren't I?)  What i meant to say was "you have about 10 more seconds to get me off this floor otherwise my whole body will seize up and I won't be able to move" (passed experience counts for everything with this condition)

So I get up thanks to being dragged off the floor by the MR, and boy does the pain begin to kick in. I continue my day not really feeling that bad but nonetheless sore!  Monday comes and I am not great but again getting about. Tuesday comes and I cannot move for the agony!  I mean for goodness sake what is it with my body and the two day delay! Seriously I have a day of doing OK after injuring myself and then the following one after that I can't move.  Never mind the phrase "the lord works in mysterious ways, my body does!!!!

So now I am nursing a very sore and swollen knee cap, ankle, elbow and shoulder, all whilst launching the new business tomorrow. I guess it will be flat boots and trousers tomorrow night then to hide all the lumps and bumps. Ah well dear readers it can only get better!

So how did I lose the extra pound?

So remember me telling you about how I lost £10 but then I left you with the wonderment of how I lost the other one.  Well once I had spoken to the wizard, I realised that where I was standing and where I was going to have to go were only next door to each other. Yeah right, the building were next to one another but the paths that led to the building went across three roads and two bus stops!!!!  The two car parks were surrounded by fencing that blocked off all access to the road other than the "designated walkways" and thus two buildings in complete proximity to one another may as well have been two miles apart. 


My mum told me to just go to the top of the car park we were parked in, and press the ticket barrier for a ticket and then just pay at the machine. "Genius" i thought until I realised that the barrier has a motion sensor and that if I didn't run through it fast enough, the barrier would not shut or even worse the barrier would slam down on my head ouch!!!. I then felt totally guilty as the thought of ruining the barrier and so my trek across the desert that is the hospital grounds began.  After 10 minutes my little feet stood at the door way of the car park office.  I was still toying with the idea of running through the barrier and saving myself £8 but seeing as I had walked all the way over, I thought it best to just get it done! 

The very nice ageing guy sat behind the desk began to tell how I wouldn't believe how many women he got in there on a daily basis who had lost tickets!!!!  I mean come on give me a break! I've walked half a mile to only now be confronted by a complete idiot!  I just gritted my teeth and paid my money and as I turned and walked out....the guy shouted "put that somewhere safe now or it'll cost you £20" I couldn't even turn around to look at his little face behind the desk. I just kept walking.  So I am contemplating my trek back to the car and having to cross three roads and pass two bus stops when the phone rings... I glance at my phone at my worst fears are staring back at me. The screen reads "mums mobile", I can't even bear to take the call because dear reader I know whats coming next. I press the green button and then say "hello" down the end of the line as if someone were sticking pins in my eyes.  "Sara have you paid yet" mum shouts down the phone, "yes why?" I wince back "cos I have found it"  Well I kid you not if the number 43 bus had been pulling into the road at that point, he would have taken me out. I could not believe it!!!  The ticket I had just bought was a no return policy and the ticket in the car with my mother was now completely useless.  I could have cried!!!

So having dragged myself back to the car, I had to know where she found it considering we had turned the car upside down.  "it was in the cooler box" she said when I got into the car.  "the cooler box?? Why on earth did I put it in the cooler box (yes I have a posh car with a cooler box between the front two seats). Turns out that I had put it in the designated place only for it to slide off and fall under the rim of the cooler box. How do I know? Cos just as I was about to drive off to the barrier, it happened again!!!!   So the pound came from having to walk so far to buy a ticket to replace one that had already been found! Oh the shame!!!

Products a plenty....

today we are going to give you a few updates about the products we've been tested as an extended family.  Those products include; Shloer soft drink and Colmans season & shake,

My dad who call "Pod" lives on his own and is always looking for great products ideas. See what he did with the Colman's season and Shake.

Colman's Season & Shake, Rustic Chicken. easy to follow, The Veg must be done to the instructions on the packet, as the picture shows chunky veg but the instructions say that the carrot and potato must be sliced thinly. I thought that the cooking time could be longer by 10min's but this may vary from oven to oven.  The packet suggests it is for four servings which is just right as the flavour is strong. I found it really easy to put together,  cooking time was about 60-70. It was very nice. If you are cooking for the whole family it could be waterdown so children may take to it better, but it did have a  good all round flavour.
If you have any questions about the Colman's Season and shake please leave a message below.

As a family we also tested Shloer.  This has been a family favourite for many special occasions as many of our family don't drink alcohol.  At Christmas and special events we usually buy shloer.  We have noticed that shloer has recently undergone a makeover and when it arrived we all thought the bottle had really gone up another level in its design.  Myself and the MR like wine, but we are always open to alternatives and the boys enjoyed taking out a wine glass from the cabinet and drink this with us.  The MR thought it was "light, left your mouth feeling refreshed and tasted sweet, but not too sweet"  Munchkins thought it was "tasty and nice, and guessed that this is what wine tasted like"  The Little Man just shouted "lovellllllllyyyyyyyyyy" when asked for his opinion.  Shloer is and will remain a family favourite.

I lost eleven pounds today

Seriously I did!  Want to know how ?

So you probably know by now that I am on the Atkins eating plan, not a old eat loads of fat one but the new eat lots of veg one. Well.....it has absolutely nothing to do with that!

I took my mum to the hospital in Cardiff today for a check up.  After her appointment had finished, we made our way back to the car, I paid at the machine, collected my ticket and jumped in my car.  I lost my bottle top on the floor of my car and then the problems began! 

So here I am rummaging around in my car, its a new car so its a clean car, thank goodness.  After opening the door and sticking my behind out of it to get under the seat, I then found the black bottle top against the black seat frame under my chair. Oh the shame of what I must have looked like.  And then worse was to come, I am switching on my engine and go to drive off when it dawns on my that my ticket is not in the usual place where i keep parking tickets.

I mean granted this is a new car BUT I have already found a great spot for my parking tickets just between the two cup holders, just next to my phone (I use hands free now don't ya know(check back tomorrow for my speakerphone review)  OK so I've obviously put in back in my bag right? WRONG!!!!  Me and mum empty pockets, bags, pockets within bags and NOTHING!!!!!!!!

OK so this genius blond decides to retrace her steps back to the only place I know I saw it last... the payment machine.  On my way back I am peeling my eyes back as if I were looking for a diamond ring but nothing.  I reach the machine and notice a help button.  So i think well this is my next step.

I press the button and a ringing tone blasts out of the machine... I begin to wonder "am I ringing a local person or will i end up speaking with someone in India" I hope for the former and fear the latter.  Anyway two minutes later a voice bellows out from the machine, I feel like I am talking to the wizard of oz who happens to have a very strong Cardiff accent. Before I tell him about the help I need, I look around to see how many people are standing around me and thank God there was no one!  So I proceed to tell the wizard that I have lost my ticket and I want to go home. The wizard tells me that I need to proceed to the building next to the car park and buy another ticket AT A FULL DAY RATE OF £10.

OK so now you know how I lost ten pounds now you need to know how I lost the other one??? Well you better check back when I update the post to tell you the rest of my saga!!!   OOH I know I'm cruel, it is worth waiting for I promise.

Wing it wednesday!!

HI lovely followers....today is Officially wing it Wednesday!

Tell me your stories of when and why you have had to wing it.

This week I was asked by the boys school to take a whole school worship in the school church, and talk about my goals in business.  I took the call thinking something was wrong with one of the boys, but in fact it was the school secretary asking me to take the worship. I simply responded "yes of course I will" and then after putting the receiver down, I thought what have I just done.

So you see I have to now wing a 40 minute presentation on my goals, lol my goals ok then better start thinking.  tell me about when you have had to wing it. Did it work? What was the outcome? I'd like to know.

Today is D day.

Today I am returning to the Orthopaedic department to get the verdict on foot surgery.  six months ago I was told I was not a candidate for surgery as changing my feet, would mean changing the way I walked and this was not a good idea as it would lead to secondary problems.

I left my appointment six months ago and I sobbed all the way home. When it becomes so painful to walk that you really would rather give up on it all together, then it is obviously a serious problem. My naivety was that, if I present myself to experts who help peoples feet all day long, they would of course create a solution. WRONG!!  It turns out (from insider knowledge) that the main reason for not committing to surgery, was that it was going to open up a whole can of worms, and one surgery, would lead to another, to another and so on.

So today I am to return to his excellency the great orthopedic god, for him to ask me "how are you?" and for me to say "did you think i would have a miraculous experience and become cured?".  This is in fact what I will be saying in my head and what comes out of my mouth will be "the same as last time I saw you"

I will let you know what the great god said tomorrow