This is still me ❤️

Sunday 24th July It's my precious Toby's 3rd birthday today. This morning will be for snuggles and fussing and then this afternoon we’re off to our friends to celebrate his birthday (again!) Well, I certainly wasn't able to watch as much TV as I did last week, unless you count Love Island, obvs. I think Ekin Su & Davide will win, btw. I did do a LOT of reading though, I sign up to a lot of email lists, and there's usually always something interesting in them somewhere. Anything I don't have time to read there and then, I add to my reading list in Google Chrome and make some time one evening or at the weekend to go through it, its become one of my favourite evening wind-down activities For those of you with children - here's something that may cure some of that summer holiday boredom that I saw in an email from Littlebird a website for ideas and savings for families. They are offering a 4 week free trial for FirstNews which is a weekly newspaper for ch

Starting and ending my days the right way. Wake up at 7am each day I’ve become a bit hypocritical. I’m always telling the husband he should keep a regular sleep routine but I have found myself being just as erratic with mine now. I like being up early, ideally 6am but I am going to start with 7am this week to get me back into the swing of things and get the day started properly. Put my screens away at 8pm Taking some downtime last week confirmed to me how important it is to spend time on things other than writing, so at 8pm each night, my laptop is being closed, my iPad is going on charge and my phone on do not disturb. I spend most of my days on social media platforms posting and engaging with others, so when 8pm comes around it’s my time to chill. Set up my LinkedIn profile This was on last weeks list, but life had other plans for me. I want to come back to this again this week, as it’s key to making progress with my writing career. I need to finish the SEO course (also on las

My week in a rather large nutshell Friday brings PMS. Joy. A recent symptom it has decided to bestow upon me is sore, swollen gums as well as all the usual delightful things. I also had a dream that I went back to my old job it was more of a nightmare, I woke up in a cold sweat. I was a bit rattled by the uncharacteristic negativity I was feeling, but I was determined to push through. I got up, made myself a cup of tea, did some meditation, did my morning reflection, read my daily stoic & set my intentions for the day, but I wasn't feeling my usual sense of satisfaction. It was annoying me. The ring doorbell jangled to let me know someone was approaching our front door, the annoyance that hadn't yet subsided, racing back to the surface, when I realised who it was. Charity Bag Man. After lockdown, when clearly I didn't have enough to moan about, I decided to order a no junk mail sticker for my letterbox. Junk mail never bothered me before, but I developed a passion

No one's perfect right? I posted this in my newsletter recently but I thought I would elaborate more, and provide the links to each book. If I had gone through a little bump in the road a year or so ago, I don't think I would be sat typing this article, I would most likely be in bed eating Chinese takeaway, followed by ice cream, buying untold shit online on my credit card, accumulating more debt. Whilst I give most of the credit to my amazing therapist, I have done some learning myself by reading (and listening to) various self-improvement books along the way. Here are some of my favourites: Not a diet book - James Smith Ahh, James Smith! I started following him on Instagram a fair few years ago and I have listed him at the top as he recommended quite a few of the books on this list. You may have seen him on TV with his no-nonsense approach to the diet industry. In this book, there is straight-talking advice on how to get fit physically and mentally. Having been on the die