OCD has taken over!!

Ok, so... last week I read a blog post from Facebook about ways to beat that 'can't be bothered' attitude!  Now I had a serious case of that taking over - I was getting to the point where I was struggling for reasons to get out of bed in the morning.  My solutions; I just didn't!  It was seriously starting to drive me nuts!  So, after some helpful tips and tricks from this blog, I started trying some, and you know what - they really do work!  

It started with deciding on a time to get up, and sticking to it!  Now where as I haven't exactly been setting alarms and jumping out of bed, I have promised myself to be up by certain times, and have stuck to them!  

Then came my favourite part - making to-do lists!!  Wait, I hear you cry, I already make lists, too many lists than are necessary... But these lists had a difference.
My lists in the past have been a generalised list of things I needed to remember to do, for example; ring the doctors, fill in an application, hoover up... You get the drift, all reasonably specific tasks that stretched over a weekly period.
These to-do lists were better!  First of all there was one for each day :)  So, I cracked out my weekly planner that I had lying around for just this kind of occasion...
It suggested that rather than just picking the important tasks, you put down everything!  That way you felt a sense of accomplishment each time you got to scratch something off the list!  So, I got to work... I started with the big stuff, like which days I cleaned, hoovered, visited family etc... Then I added plans with friends and the sister... Then I added the places I needed to go (Meadowhall, Rotherham etc)... Next came the phone calls I had to make (Job stuff etc), and so on and so forth... I even put my showers on it just so that I could cross it off when I had done that!  It's like OCD Heaven!!  No Jokes!!  I considered different colours for different priorities, but I figured I was asking for trouble, and a possible melt down when I did it wrong...  So, instead I stuck with one colour, and added the lesser important stuff in the 'Don;t Forget' box at the bottom - the stuff that I wanted to get done, but it didn't matter which day.  

And so I started!  The blog had suggested that after you got up in a morning and had breakfast etc, the first thing you should do is something for yourself, whether it be read, sit in the garden, fix your top, call a friend, etc, just make sure it was beneficial to you on a personal level rather than just to tick a box, this gave you a mental boost for the day.
To my surprise... it totally works!  I felt much better just at the end of the first day - being able to look at that list at the end of the day and see all those things scribbled out.  It really did give me a decent feeling of actually having done something with my day!  
So...of course I continued... and I swear the lists have got more detailed as I have gone on... but I have managed to get done what I planned for each day!  It feels great - and so far no melt down :)

Well worth a try, even if you're not OCDish like I am.  It has definitely made me feel better this last couple of weeks!! 

Talk soon, Louby x

And the motto is...

So, June is rolling by, and I am spending more and more time lost in my own little world.  Just before the weekend I was beginning to lose a little hope; I was letting everything get on top of me - the one thing I said I wouldn't let happen!  So, after a couple of days away from everything looking after my little man while his Mommy took some rest time, I gave myself a good talking to and put myself back on track.  

I am still doing the Ab Challenge thing, though I openly admit that I do not see any difference, and I swear it was devised to kill me - but out of pure stubbornness I will get to the end!!  My next move is to seriously crack on with my second book, and get some more copies of the first out into the world, and I also have to continue hunting for a new job - wouldn't it be awesome if someone decided they wanted my book in the mean time and it set me up for being a writer :)  Dreams are only dreams while ever we believe in them!  And despite how often I take the mickey out of myself for wanting to be a writer; I do believe in it, I do believe that it is possible!  I make jokes to keep the disappointment at bay every time I receive a 'no'.  

As for keeping up with my spontaneity, I think Sammy, Vicky and I took the biscuit for that the other day!  After a mess up on my part at the cinema, we were at a loss for something to do... So what did we decide on?  Normal people would have looked for another film, gone bowling instead, gone home and watched a DVD... Us...

We found a way into the fields in Ulley and went to see how close we could get to a windmill!  It was extremely spontaneous and very childish, but that about sums us up, especially when we are all together!  We trudged through the crop fields, panicked only a little when we heard the police helicopter above us, and managed to get right up to them - though we refrained from climbing the steps as we figured that might be pushing our luck a little too much!

After we had a taste for rebellion there was no stopping us - we didn't want to go home, so we had to find something else to do to entertain our childish sides!  What did we do?  We found a park of course!!

 Vicky went straight for the see-saw thingy and nearly face planted the floor - who'd have thought that these things weren't built for adults...

Sammy enjoyed making action shots...






And me... well... I saw a challenge... and went for it!

And I totally made it - Granted it was very ungraceful,

but I did it!

So, I will continue to keep my head up, and not let this crappy situation in my life get me down - I will come out on top of this... 'When one door closes, another opens' and all that, a little bit of wisdom from Alexander Graham Bell!

More randomness to come - I promise - and a Vernon update - but for now, I am going to go and enjoy what remains of this glorious sunshine.

Louby x

Well hello June - when did you sneak up??

This year is definitely flying by and taking no prisoners!  June already eh??  Well I managed to do what I said last time, and I think I have already covered at least half of what I have done this month!  It has to be better this way, less to put in one blog, and less of my crap to read  in one go!!  Win:Win all round I think!  

So here goes, let's start with the Resolution things - I have done a whole month of no Take-Aways!  When the family have had take out, I have been a good little girl and gone and made myself some tea - and felt tons better for it.  This month was supposed to be no crisps, however, having not checked the list to see what I was supposed to be avoiding, I had a bag of crisps at lunch time... so I am going to swap July and June over, and do no sweets this month, and crisps next month!  

I'm afraid swimming went down the drain a few months back -it was far too much faff for very little fun or results!  So, now the weather is picking up, I can get back out on my bike... I am going to change my Rother Valley route from last year to Ulley Reservoir!  Much further, and some good hills... and no I have plenty of time on my hands, I can get out when the weather is nice!  I also want to get back to Horse Riding, as the weather has been a bit up and down for that recently too.  Need to get active, the nothingness is getting me down and I really want to get myself out of it!  I am starting with the craze of the 30 month ab challenge which I saw on Facebook a while back.  It has taken over the nation for June, so I figured 'why not?'  I started today, and did ok, I have picked one of my favourite tracks to work out to!  'We Own It' by 2 Chainz!  And away I went!  I can't guarantee I will be this positive about it by Day 30 - I will keep you updated!

Calendar is courtesy of

https://www.facebook.com/events/1426424270959723/?fref=ts

and is in no way mine.

As for the rest of my ideas for the new year - I am on my 19th book of 22 weeks according to Instagram :)  I am hoping that I can bring the number back up as I was averaging out at one a week near the beginning.  So hopefully, with the warm weather and some free time, I can get a wriggle on and get caught up a bit :)

Vernon is still enjoying his exploration of the world and since you last heard from him on here, has been to the Liverpool Empire Theater with me, Mum, Sammy and Auntie Arri to see the Lion King on stage.  Which for the record, was absolutely awesome!  I would definitely recommend going to see the stage show!  It is a must for the bucket list!  The insanity set in pretty much as soon as we got in the car, and after arguing with a set of google instructions, we soon cracked out the Sat Nav whilst trying to take car selfies!

We had an awesome time and cried a lot, and took some fun photo's of us all out together!  It was nice to get out as a girl's day and spend some time out having fun!  The best part about it all - Mum had no idea!  We got her all the way there and to the building before she realised what the big surprise was :)  And she cried!

 I have also seen another stage show this month, thought this one was some what cheating as I saw it at the Cinema!  Vicky and I went to see The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night Time.  An excellent book, and a stunning performance - I would definitely consider seein it live if I ever got the chance!  Definitely a fantastic interpretation of the story!

The only other big adventure Vernon has seen this month was our trip to see the Lair of the White Worm on Friday with Pete!  
Yep - we went up there >>>

Vernon got front row seats on the front of my bike, and after a lovely cycle out into the countryside in Staffordshire, we climbed a cliff to go and explore the cave and have some lunch.  


Then cycled some more.  Covered fourteen miles in total, plus the ground coverage on foot.  Was an awesome day, and a lovely spot :)





I rounded off May with a trip to the seaside yesterday with Tara.  We took Rolo for his first ever trip to the beach!  And boy did we have to walk a long way to find him some beach to play on!  I'm still not sure if we could really count it as a beach - but it was sand, and we found shells - what more do you need?  There was no sea - it was miles away!  And with it being peak season times now, dogs aren't allowed on the main beaches, so maybe he will have to go again in the winter when he can go run on the beach and splash in the sea!  After the hike out to the end of the beach and back, we found a nice little spot in the sun to have a mini picnic :)
Was a good day, even saw the sunshine for a few hours!  Was plenty warm enough - and that's saying something for the coast!

So, May has been a bit of a mixed bag... June is going to be better!  I won't let anything drag me down, and I will keep finding the fun to be had in life!  Keep track of Vernon on Instagram with #vernonsadventure and see where he ends up, and me in general :)  I have been a little Instagram happy with this #99happymoments thing going on... You lot must be sick of seeing what I get up to lol!

Till next time, which I'm sure will be some random boredom when everyone is at work!
Louby x