It's all about me

I was really pleased when I came up with the name for this blog. Mum/Me being an obvious play on 'Mummy' and also saying that this is a blog about being a mum and being me. This meant, I thought, that I could post things other than mummy-related things. As it turns out, it's all about the children, because right now in my life, being a mummy is pretty much all-consuming.

Since I'm clearly not going to get around to writing anything about myself at any point, I am going to take part in a little game that's going around the blogs. I copied this from my friend Laura who has a truly inspiring blog. The post is a bit formulated but it was good fun.

The A - Z of Me

 ANORAK…Do you have a sad side? 

Can I just start by grumpily objecting to the word ‘sad’? I’m sure even the anorakiest trainspotter type finds their hobby to be a happy thing. I’m not a trainspotter (well, I do sometimes see trains but I don’t think that counts) but I have, in my questionable past enjoyed the odd RPG... (See how I hide my geeky admission in an acronym that I hope all you cool people won’t understand?)

BODY…What physical attribute would you most like to change?

Just doing a quick count from head to toe now, I can think of 15 things I would like to change about myself. I must be a repulsive monster. Most like to change? Probably my teeth (and that’s my own bloody fault for not wearing my retainer, so I get the added joy of heaping coals upon my own head. Stupid child.)

CELEBRITY…Which one would you most like to date and why?

I don’t really do slebs. So to speak. I barely know who most of them are. I have a bit of a mild thing about Colin Firth at the moment though, and I’m constantly in love with Matt Damon. Why? Um, guess.

DEBUT …Tell us about your first ever blog post. What made you start blogging?

First blog post was about Arran falling downstairs – it was quite an incident. I started blogging because my two main passions in life are my children and writing. Doing a mummy blog just seemed like a natural amalgamation of the two, and I hope that one day it will be nice to look back over.

ERROR …What’s been your biggest regret?

Regrets, I’ve had a few, but then again, too few to mention. I’m not sure I really have regrets. Even though there are plenty of things that I could and should have done differently, each one of them has led me to where I am today, and I wouldn’t want to change where I am today so I wouldn’t change them, if that makes sense!

FUNNY – who’s making you laugh?

I love stand-up comedy. At the moment I’m finding Dara O’Brian funny. I also really like Bill Bailey, he’s so clever. My husband makes me laugh a lot. He’s very quick-witted and also very silly at times and we have lots of fun and laugh together most days. I think that’s so important in a relationship.

GRAND…If we gave you one right now what would you spend it on?

I’d probably pay for us all to go to New York and visit our family who are living out there at the moment.

HOLIDAY… What’s your favourite destination?

Brighton is our 'spiritual home’ and I always love going back there.

 IRRITATE… What’s your most annoying habit? 

You’d have to ask my husband. He’d probably say the fact that I am incapable of finishing a drink and leave cups and glasses everywhere with a little bit in the bottom of each one, and that I am incapable of wearing socks and leave discarded socks everywhere. Does anyone else find that socks give them the heebie jeebies? I just can’t bear them after a while. Those and polo necks. I am fairly normal apart from that, I promise. Oh, and I also eat very, very slowly which some people find a bit annoying.

JOKER…Whats your favourite joke {the one that makes you laugh every time you hear it}?

This makes me laugh every time, but it’s not going to work written down. Stef tells it really well. You have to blurt the last bits out. Q. How many psycho analysts does it take to change a lightbulb? A. Two. One to change the bulb and the other to hold the penis... MOTHER! .... LADDER! (See, doesn’t work in text.)

KENNEL… Do you have any pets?

No. I quite fancy getting a dog though and have always had animals growing up.

LOVE…Are you single, married, engaged, living with a long term partner?

Married.

MEAL… Whats your ultimate starter, main and dessert?

There are too many nice meals in this world to choose an ultimate starter, main and desert. How do you stack a delicious Chinese meal against a well-made lasagne? Or baked camembert against bruscetta? Can’t be done. I love food though.

 NOW…If you could be anywhere right now where would you be and who with?

Pretty much exactly what Laura (who started this) said – snuggled up somewhere peaceful with my family.

OFF DUTY…What do you do in your spare time?

Spare time? Pardon? Would that be the downtime between midnight and 5am then? Mostly I sleep, punctuated by waking up to resettle my baby daughter. I realised the other day that I haven’t slept more than two hours in a row for over a year now. So you can fuck off with your ‘spare time’ question. No, I mean clearly I blog and occasionally watch a bit of TV, but I just wanted to make it clear that this is not ‘spare’ time, this is officially designated ‘sleep’ time that I am giving up. I hope you’re grateful. No, sleep deprivation doesn’t make me grumpy at all, thank you. What do you mean?

PROUD MOMENTS …What are you most proud of?

My children. Without a doubt.

QUEASY …What turns your stomach?

People messing around with food. Foodfights or odd combinations of food or people with poor table manners. Once, a visitor to my house scraped cold soup off her child’s face with a spoon and ate it. That made me feel very sick. Also, the smell of coffee made me sick when pregnant and that’s never really gone away.

RELAX…How do you relax?

Playing with the children, exercise, listening to music, writing, watching TV, reading a book.

SONG…Whats your favourite song of all time?

This is like the meal question. I couldn’t pick one and I go through fads where I kind of fall in love with a song and listen to it over and over and over for a while. Leonard Cohen is a longstanding favourite of mine and I think Hallelujah is pretty epic (although I don’t think his is the best version of it). My favourite of his is probably ‘Anthem’ (and anyone who thinks Cohen is all about being depressing should listen to this uplifting track). Should I Fall Behind by Bruce Springsteen was a wedding reading for us and our first dance, so that’s pretty special. Even mentioning a few tracks though feels like a travesty. I might have to do a separate post on the best 20 tracks of all time or something.

TIME …If you could go back in time and relive it again, when would you choose? 

I would like to spend a day in my childhood again, relive my wedding and experience the moment when I met both of my children for the first time over again.

UNKNOWN…Tell us something about yourself that no one else knows? 

I bought a box of After 8 Mints for our guests who are staying with us at the moment, but since I didn’t actually tell anyone I am just busy scoffing them all myself. It’s got to the stage now where the box is too empty to produce, even if I fluff them up and space them out, so I’m really committed to devouring the rest of the box myself. Oh well. Does that count?

VOCAL…. Who is your favourite artist?

See ‘Song’ – I couldn’t possibly choose.

WORK….. What is your dream job, and are you doing it now?

Mother – yep. Writer – yep. Lucky, lucky me.

XRAY…Any broken bones?

Broke my leg when I was a baby. That’s what happens when you’re in the baby seat on the bike with your mum and a Landover skids out of control. Glad I can’t remember that. Broken ribs and toes since then but they don’t count as you don’t even get a bandage.

YIKES…What’s been your most embarrassing moment?

I embarrass myself daily. I once e-mailed my friend telling her about a boy I really fancied, and accidentally sent it to the boy. He did not reciprocate my love and it was a bit awkward. I can think of a few more, but actually repeating them would increase the embarrassment of each one, which seems counter-productive.

ZOO…. If you were an animal, which one would you be? 

I’d like to say a tiger, but probably a wombat.

 

Comments

[Laura]

I blimmin' love this El, I'm so glad you did this tag too. I feel like I know you even better now. I won't tell anyone about the mints...what mints?! xxx