HIDE AND SEEK

We read in the newspapers and see on the television about children being abducted and worse, so it's no surprise that there is a lack of children playing out on the street as we (we of a certain age anyway) used to do.

I walked down the street earlier and saw four kiddies playing Dobby.  For those of the games console era, dobbie is a little like hide and seek, but rather than just seeking out the hiders, both hider and seeker have to race back to the "control point" (for want of a better phrase), usually a lampost or gatepost and "dobby" the hider.  It really was exciting stuff!

It got me thinking though.  Ok, so kids these days have iPods, games consoles (I'm not even gonna pretend I know the name of the latest console or the must have game!) and mobile phones (for heavens sake), but do they really know what they are missing out on?

Aside from hide and seek/dobbie, we had British Bulldog.  British Bulldog wasn't great fun for me.  I was quite a chubby child, so a game where you had to run from one side to the other without getting tagged wasn't my favourite. 

Kerby was probably one of the most dangerous games played.  It involved one person stood at one side of the road, one at the other, trying to throw at ball at the opposite kerb.  This really had to be played on a quiet road, otherwise the ball (at best) would end up under oncoming vehicles.

Paper Chase was a particular favourite, but up until a certain age, I was only allowed to play this if my older brother or sister were playing too as it involved leaving our street.  A trail of paper based clues left in various locations in the village, leading to an eventual hiding place of the person who had left said clues.

These games, and variations on them, weren't all that went on.  Oh no.  The girls were often having handstand contests (again, something I was never very good at) or the skipping ropes were out and the boys would be off playing army, or something just as destructive, resulting in brusies, grazes and blood!  But this was in the days when if you got a cut on your elbow/knee/head, your mum put a plaster on it and you back playing within five minutes!

Games were played into the evening, even when it started to get dark, until you were called in for dinner/bathtime.

Snow days were fun.  We lived at the top of a cul de sac, and one year the snow plow came up (to this day I still no idea how the driver got it up and turned it round on such a narrow street), leaving us kids at the top of the street with a ready made barricade, whilst the kids at the bottom end of the street had to make their own.  Obvisously, it was nowhere near as good as ours!

As we got older, the top of the cul de sac became a football pitch, a tennis court and even a cricket strip. 

I really don't think children these days know what they are missing out on.  These games were so simple but actually got us out in the fresh air come rain or shine, rather than sat in front of a screen all day.

Bring back the old days I say!

LIE IN - BAD IDEA!

I decided today, as I have been up early all week, that I would have a lie-in.  I was so irritable yesterday due to tiredness and ended up in bed at 8.30pm!

So, after the other half went to work at 5am (this means I am also awake at 5am!) I settled myself back down for a couple of hours sleep. 

Four hours later I woke up, the television playing away to itself.  I reasoned with myself that this was exactly what I needed and that I "must have been tired" (a phrase I have inherited from my mother, who I am in danger of turning into)

Now, you would think, at 9am, that I would get up feeling refreshed and ready for my day off.  No!  I laid there for another half an hour.  I am not one of these strange breed of people who wake up and get straight out of bed, I have to "pull round". 

Once I had fully woken up, I decided to fire the laptop and "check" facebook and twitter (a better source of news that any newspaper!)

I finally got out of bed at 11am! 

You would think I would feel great for such a lie-in.  Again, no!  I walked downstairs with what felt like one of the worst hangovers ever!  My head was pounding and, if possible, I felt even more tired than I had when I went to bed last night.  Worse still, I had to do the Asda shop feeling like this, which of course meant that everyone there was there for the sole purpose of annoying me (I believe Asda employ people in this role).

The worst thing about such a lie-in though is the feeling that I have completely wasted my day.  It is now 7:45pm and I feel like I have done very little.  I have done the Asda shop and tried on holiday clothes to make sure they fit and started packing (still a month to go and I have started packing!) and very little else!

So, I think I need to make up some time!  So, while the other half watches golf, I'm going to do some re-drafting and abandon any ideas of an early night!

SUNSHINE, WEIGHT LOSS , HANGOVERS AND PIZZA

If you've read my previous posts on here you will know I am not the biggest fan of Mondays, in fact, I hate them.  Put the words Bank Holiday in front of it though and it's a totally different matter.

A 30th birthday party last night meant that the day started with a hangover, made slightly better by the bacon and egg buttie (again, regular readers will know this is one of my vices). 

It looked like a lovely morning but during the drive home it seemed a little cool and that maybe I had got my hopes up about the great British weather again, so I decided to have an hour in bed to try and sleep off the hangover. 

The extra hour seemed to do the trick.  The headache and general crappy feeling was starting to lift.

It wasn't until I set off for my weekly torture session that is the Slimming World weigh-in, that I realised it was hot, not just warm, but hot, and I had wasted the day sleeping off the after effects of last night's party.

The good news was I've lost 2lb this week.  Surprising after the amount of alcohol that was consumed last night and the Chinese meal on Saturday night.  I'm thankful I decided against the Sweet and Sour Chicken Balls and went for the more Slimming World friendly Chicken Chow Mein (although I'm not sure the mini spring rolls were that friendly).

Now, my theory with Slimming World is that if I have lost weight, I deserve a treat.  Right? So pizza it was.  I'm not really a pizza fan and have to be "in the mood" to eat one.  Also, I'm not a fan of expensive chain pizzerias (with the exception of Pizza Express but that is purely because last time I went I had the best chocolaty gooey cake ever to have passed my lips), I prefer my local pizzeria and their smokey BBQ pizza.  Chicken, red onion. green peppers and BBQ sauce.  Again, I will point out that I was allowed this as I have lost 2lb this week.  This is my treat.  (At this point, I may be trying to convince myself rather than anyone else).  This pizza is every bit as good as chocolate and lasts longer (unless you have one of those ridiculously long Dairy Milk bars they seem to wheel out every Christmas).

So, after a bacon and egg buttie, an hour's sleep, the excitement of a 2lb weight loss, the sun and a pizza, the hangover seems to be disappearing - just in time for going back to work tomorrow!  Ah well, can't have everything!

EVERY LITTLE THING IS GONNA BE ALRIGHT!

Being a Barnsley FC fan has never been easy, in fact, sometimes its almost impossible.  Today, however, was almost unbearable!

You see, today was the last day of the season (other than the Premiership) and we needed to win today's game against Huddersfield Town to stay in the Championship.  A draw would be enough provided Peterborough lost.  As a Barnsley fan, it's not unusual to have to rely on other teams to help us stay up - the bottom half of the table is familiar territory to us at this stage of the season.

After last week's win against Hull (the team in second place in the table) hopes were high but I'll admit, the nerves were jangling somewhat.

So, after a morning shopping, we settled in front of the TV with Jeff Stelling and co.  Unable to sit still for the first ten minutes, I paced the floor, got out the laptop, thought about doing some washing up, anything to get rid of the nervous energy that had taken over me.  Until, fourteen minutes in, a goal had been scored.  Crossing over the commentator at the John Smith Stadium, home of Huddersfield Town, it shown that Barnsley had drawn first blood.  Cue crazy lady being unleashed.  I started bouncing round the living room shouting "COME ON" and "GET IN" repeatedly.  My neighbours are so lucky to have such a quiet placid lady living next door.

The rest of the first half went by with little event.  Commentary suggested that we had the better half, with the majority of possession and the best chances, but no further goals were scored.

The came the second half.  While we were still winning, all was good.  Peterborough were drawing but this didn't affect us as we only needed to win.  All was going swimmingly until Jeff Stelling announced they were going back to the John Smith Stadium.  Ian Dowie broke the news that Huddersfield had scored - "BUGGER!" That put us back in the relegation zone.  This was not good.  Especially when Peterborough scored and were now winning!

It was a tense twenty minutes (it felt like hours).  Then they handed back over to Ian Dowie and I hid behind my hands until I head that Jason Scotland had come to Barnsley's rescue.  Were were 2-1 up with 16 minutes of normal time left.  Once again crazy lady had entered the building.  My other half was amused, I was now bouncing around the living room like Tigger of speed!

The euphoria lasted all of ten minutes.  Huddersfield scored in the 81st minute, signing out death warrant once again.

This was it.  I was close to tears at this point.  No two ways about it, we were going to be playing League One football next season.  I had managed to keep the faith all season, even through out worst patch before we got a new manager, but there come a point when you have to face facts.

I had my wine glass at the ready.  I was ready to drown my sorrows with a bottle of dry white.  Then news came through the Crystal Palace had scored.  This meant Peterborough were losing and had taken out place in the bottom three.  It took a while for it to sink in.  Cue Crazy Kerry again!  This time I could not sit down, I was pacing the floor, I was jumping up and down, I was singing.  The other half - a Manchester United fan - was still laughing at me (these Man Utd fans don't understand what every other team goes through!).

The final whistle went in our match.  It looked like we were staying up provided Crystal Palace could hold onto their lead until their final whistle!  It was an agonising couple of minutes.  Then, just as I was about to spontaneously combust, the final whistle was blown.  Peterborough were down and we had survived by the skin of out teeth!  I upped the craziness and I think only dogs would have heard me at one point!

The last day of the season is always eventful, but I think I went through almost every emotion possible today. 

I'm off to lie in a dark room for a few hours!

BREKFAST DISASTER

The Bank Holiday weekend is upon us and I decided to make the mostf it.  The second draft of my first novel is underway and I intened to get a large chunk of it done over my four days off work. 

So I got out of bed and 6:45am full of beans.  Actually the beans were an issue.

I turned the kettle on to make a brew - I cant even THINK about doing anything until I've had a cuppa.  I took the milk from the fridge, only to find  there was literally enough for ONE cuppa. 

So, cuppa made I needed to think about breakfast.  Cereal was clearly out of the question.  Opening the fridge door didnt exactly fill me with confidence. 

Out of the dozen eggs I bought last week, there was one left.  Not exactly enough for an omlette or scrambled eggs.

I realised with immense disappointment that the bacon buttie I had been craving for the last three days was out of question.  Although I had the obligatory brown sauce I was lacking bacon and bread, meaning beans on toast was also off the menu. 

I closed the fridge door again and after checking all cupboards tucked into breakfast.....an Alpen bar!!!

Shortly after, I did the weekly Asda run and tomorrow's breakfast dilema will be making a choice between a cooked breakfast, cereal, omlette or fruit and yoghurt.......decisions, decisions!

GREAT BRITISH WEATHER!

What to wear on a morning?  Have at least three outfits ready!  The Great British weather has played a blinder again today.

I got out of bed this morning thinking it might be a nice day.  A little chilly, maybe, but the sun was shining and i could see patches of blue sky.  Hanging out the washing I noticed the wind was strong enough for me to have to put extra pegs on the shirts I wa putting on the line!  It was a cold wind but the sun was still shining and was warm when the wind dropped briefly. 

I'd just made a cup of tea and started to tackle my ever increasing ironing pile when I noticed the rain on the kitchen window.  So, five minutes after pegging the washing out it was draped over the radiators, which had to be put on again this morning :-(

Obviously, Sod's Law dictates that the rain shower blew over pretty quickly!  Well, I''m sorry, but I wasn't pegging the washing out again!

So I'd resigned myself to the fact that the washing was going to be dried inside today!  We had the odd shower blow over and the sunshine came back out.  I tell you no lie, at one point it was raining in my back garden whilst the sun shone in the front garden!

The final straw came though when I went to the local shop for the usual Saturday paper and Lotto lucky dip!  It's close enought to walk so I refuse to drive down but the other half was on his way to play golf so he dropped me off!  It was a little overcase at this point but still dry.  It must have been in the shop for all of five minutes, but when I came out the rain had started - and this was no light shower!  I waiting for a few seconds, trying to decide whether to set off and risk looking like a drowned rat by the time I got home and whether to wait under the shelter until it passed.  My decision was made so much easier when the rain turned to HAILSTONES!  In April!  I've heard of April Showers but this is ridiculous!  Anyway, I waiting five minutes watching mini ice cubes falling mere millimetres from my face only for it to stop as suddenly as it had started! 

I got homea few minutes later and havent seen a drop of rain since!  In fact, Barnsley is now bathed in glorious sunshine!

I give up! The English weather has me completely and utterly baffled!

KETTLEHELL

As I sit here typing this I am still suffering slightly from Tuesday's (it is now Friday) Kettlebell session. 

For anyone who has never had the joy, Kettlebells is an exercise class around 45 minutes long, each particular exercise being one minute long. 

Ok this sounds easy right?  Right, until you factor in the Kettlebell; a weight (I'm a beginner so I started with 4kg!) with a handle attached.

So, the exercises include squats - a LOT of squats - whilst swinging around the kettlebell.  Bearing in mind the sweat involved with exercise, the risk of someone's kettlebell flying from the hands is high!  Lots of bicep curls, side extensions and lunges to music I'm used to hearing in nightclubs.

Then come the press-ups....oh the press-ups.  What can I say?  I'm not ashamed to admit I can't do press-ups.  Never been able to.  Well, not without sticking my bum in the air.  So, when I managed to do five - yes a full five - "proper" sit-ups I was chuffed to bits with myself. 

I managed a few more sit-ups, even though I struggle with these too!  The stomach crunches and oblique twists were a lot more style!

The class instuctor, Drill Sergeant Alyesha, is a machine.  I swear, her muscles have muscles of their own!  She doesn't let up.  If you dare to stop she will literally shout at you "DON'T STOP".  Seriously the woman is evil. 

The day after, my legs refused to move.  Every time I sat down, a moan accompanied the action.  Even lifting my arms caused slight pain (that would be the press-ups!)

But hey, I've got a holiday coming up and the legs need some conisderable toning before I can be let out in a bikini!  So, next Tuesday I shall be putting myself through the hell again!  Wish me luck x