I have been asked if I make up any of these responses. I can say hand on heart that I have not! The reasons that my lovely husband gives me for not listening are genuine! I hope you enjoy his most recent list! Reasons for not listening: 1. Donald Duck came on the TV. What! How old are you? 2. I was watching TV. Der- the bright lights came on in the box! 3. I was looking at my watch! My fault; I bought it for him at Christmas. 4. I’m sorry but I just blanked you out. Just plain nasty! 5. I noticed that they had toothpicks. You could have ‘picked ‘a better time to notice them. 6. Someone was talking to me! Yeah! ME! 7. I was looking round. DER I could see that – that is why I questioned whether you were listening or not. 8. I heard you but I missed what you said. What!? 9. I’m going to the toilet. I’m actually in the middle of telling you something. 10. I thought you’d finished. You will be -if you're not careful! 11. What? You were talking to me? Who else would I be talking too! 12. I thought that you were stopping to take a breath. Oh! Give me patience! THOUGHT FOR THE DAY: LAUGH OUT LOUD AND OFTEN!
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Now that I’m trying to use technology and social media more, especially my mobile phone, I can understand the frustration people feel when this usually fingertip device doesn’t work. I feel sorry for people who live in places like Macclesfield and surrounding areas because their WIFI signal is absolutely atrocious. I have family who live in the area and when I visit and am out and about, I rarely get any connection at all. They must have no tower service to speak of. The same goes for the Broughton area in Flintshire Wales. Dear Daughter mine is moving to this area and the mobile service is terrible. You can be in their shopping centre and you are lucky to get one bar on your phone. I am not sure what these bars represent but I know that when you don’t have any you are cut off from the outside world!! How do the locals cope with this or do they know something I don’t. From being a person who wasn’t interested in using my phone at all to someone who likes to check up on Twitter, Face-book and use Google as a research tool; it has revealed a nightmare! Can anyone shed a light on this for me or has my technology curse become mobile and now can follow me wherever I go! (sorry no pun intended. LOL) Just wondering...? Thought for the day: Appreciate the smaller things! I’m sure that everyone would agree that the success of all our medal winners at Rio 2016 is fabulous and I congratulate them all on their achievements but I just wondered what about all of those who went to Rio but were not successful. There were many who took part but did not make it through to the next round, or reach a final or who had a problem somewhere along the way and were unable to compete or didn’t do as well as they had expected. They too must have trained hard and long over the past four years just like the winners. They too must have made sacrifices to achieve an Olympic dream. I wonder how they feel about their Olympic experience. Not everyone can be that stand out person or stand out team of the Games but everyone who went over there must have a story to tell. It is great to find out about the training regimes, the obstacles overcome by the medal winners and they all say that it was all worth it for that moment when they stand on the podium to receive their medal and yes their stories and final achievements are inspiring. But what about those who didn’t manage to win a medal. I just wondered what they think. Was it worth all the hard work, time and dedication to come away empty handed? I am sure that all of them would say that yes it was; that the experience was fantastic and to compete on that kind of stage was an incredible rush. But I wonder is the thrill of being selected and travelling to Rio as a member of the GB team and spending time in the village enough of a buzz to motivate them again for the next four years or will they need more? I think that it would be interesting to interview some of these people, who did not make it, but tried very hard to do so. These members of the GB team should also be applauded for their contributions. I think their tales and stories should be shared with us as well, so that they can be inspiring too. I saw an interview with Emily Diamond who had food poisoning before her 400m race. She said, “There was no way I was not getting on that start line, even if I had to walk round!” Now that is what I call inspiring! Thought for the day: Believe in possibilities! I have had problems sleeping this week and so have been able to watch more of the Olympics than ever before. Now I come to think of it, I haven’t watched the past three Olympics, as I have always been away on holiday. I was in Mexico in 2012 and on a cruise in 2008 and 2004. So it has made a nice change to catch up on some of the sports that I wouldn’t usually watch. And I have some random thoughts about the coverage that I have seen just recently. 1. For instance is it me or is Judo just a game of tug of war without the rope. 2. Or what about fencing? I mean it’s not the Three Musketeers is it? 3. I tell you something, I wouldn’t want to meet any of the ladies Canadian rugby sevens on a night out; they are bruisers and clattered our GB girls something awful. 4. I watched quite a few table tennis matches and was amazed by the convoluted serves the players came up with. I honestly don’t see the point of them as they did not deceive any of their opponents, who were all able to return their serves. 5. Maybe they should invent a new sport for the next Olympics; who can come up with the most intricate and complicated serve. I think that it could be a hit! 6. And I laughed out loud- you couldn’t have made this up; Ding Ling from Beijing won the ladies table tennis gold medal! 7. Beach volley ball if I remember last year got a lot of attention because it was held in the middle of London rather than at a beach! 8. However most people watch it because of the bikinis that the ladies wear. Well this year I don’t mean to be mean but some of the body shapes looked grotesque and out of synch with human physiology. It was as though I was looking at them through a carnival mirror, which is made to distort the human body. I have to admit not being impressed although I haven’t seen any of the male counterparts so I’m looking forward to that! 9. Archery has moved on hasn’t it since Robin Hood and the good old long bow! What contraptions they use and they have a spotter as well! The bows look as if they have taken steroids! I wonder just how much is it the case of the man or the machine that sends the arrow flying. 10. As for the swimming; I now know all the words to the Star- Spangled Banner! 11. Oh and I want one of the USA coats- they are fantastic. However I don’t think that I’d wear it to go swimming. I’d feel just a tad over dressed! 12. Another thought was why do the swimmers bring back packs onto to the side of the swimming pool? Unless they carry inflatable life jackets! 13. I also wondered why the divers take their towels into the showers with them. They get wet!! Aren’t towels supposed to get you dry? 14. And as for the flirting between Mark and Becky; I don’t care if it is fake! It is so entertaining and Helen you wear what you want girl because it is what comes out of your mouth that is important and some of your comments are pure genius. 15.These three are the best presenters on at the moment. And finally having not seen BBC coverage of the Olympics for such a long time I am impressed by all the presenters; Claire Balding is so natural! All of them have given us just enough facts delivered with warmth and humour. Excellent! For all my mickey- taking (only funning!) I just want to say that I have great respect for all of the participants of the Rio 2016 Olympics, in whatever sport they belong to. I salute your dedication, determination, perseverance, sacrifice and talent. Long may you reign! Losing weight is big business isn’t it? I watched a Channel 4 series called Eat Well, which hooked people up with different diets to help them to lose weight. These diets varied from a two week quick fix to a four months regime. Nearly all of them had a gimmick; such as the grapefruit diet, which tells you to eat a grapefruit before you eat your meals. I actually tried this diet many years ago at a time when I didn't like grapefruits but it's amazing what you can learn to love! Unfortunately - it didn't work! Another diet suggested was where you have to drink coffee before your meal. This was a none starter for me as I have tried on many occasions to drink coffee but I just can't get to like it. There was one where you drank vinegar. Ugh! I'm sorry no matter what I weighed I couldn't do this one! And one where you could only eat at certain times of the day. They had obviously done the research and there was a doctor, a dietician and a cook to help the volunteers. However what was interesting was the small print for many of these diets. This told them to cut down the calorie content of their food intake, to stop eating processed food and to eat more fruit and vegetables! I mean it is not rocket science to predict that you would lose weight this way even without the gimmicks! One diet was called the fast food diet, which again said that you could eat only fast food or processed food. That’s right- you were allowed to eat fast food every day and processed food to your heart's content or should that be your stomach’s content? The man who tried this diet did actually lose weight! However again there was the hidden agenda. The instructions told him to cut down the number of calories he could eat each day. Cutting down calories is a traditional and successful way to lose weight, so too are eating smaller portions and cutting out snacks, which were all suggested. I have spent a great deal of my life on a diet of some kind. I have tried gimmicky ones or the newest one that is out. I have tried meal replacements and still remember the horrific one where I had to eat nine (yes you read that correctly!) nine hard boiled eggs on the first day and then cut down to three a day for the duration of the diet. To say that I was egg bound was an understatement!! I found the F-plan diet and attending weight watchers to be helpful in my quest to lose weight but through all of these, I have discovered that the true way to lose weight all starts in the mind – yeah that’s right in the mind. You see, losing weight is hard! You need to be strong willed, have determination and be consistent; so your brain has to be agreeable. Once it is then you can start. Once my brain is engaged I have found that I CAN say no to temptations. I CAN eat smaller portions I CAN pile on the vegetables and even try new ones that I haven’t eaten before, as well as including more fruit in my meal options. I have bought smaller dinner plates so that the food portion looks bigger but have yet to try the red plate idea, which is one of the newest fads on offer. With my brain in gear the stones and lbs (sorry I’m showing my age) have fallen off and up to now I have lost just under 2 stones. I feel so much better, I have dropped down two dress sizes! Adding a regular amount of exercise into the equation has also been a successful way to keep those extra pounds from creeping back on! Remember dieting is hard! But if you eat less and more healthily, as well as consistently you can do it! Thought for the day: Dieting is the only game where you win when you lose! My loving family will tell you that I have many funny quirks in my nature but I wasn't so sure; so with a little help I decided to think about some of the things that I do that they consider to be unusual and I wrote them down. 1. I had to sit in the same seat in the staffroom at school (for over 20 years) or I was unhappy and would have to leave the staffroom if my seat was taken. 2. When having a drink at Starbucks at the Trafford Centre I have to sit at the same table or I feel uncomfortable. 3. I have to walk beside a person who is on my left. Don’t like anyone walking on my right! 4. When sitting I like to face a window. 5. I have to be able to see as many people as possible when sitting in a group situation. 6. I have to have a ‘dip and change colour ‘cup of tea. 7. I always leave a small amount of tea liquid at the bottom of the cup. 8. When I’m serving a meal at home, I have to have hot plates for hot food. 9. I usually brush my hair at least 5 times in an hour. 10. I usually clean my teeth after every meal not just twice a day. 11. I have to sleep on the left side of the bed. 12. When shopping I have to buy something in the first half hour or I will shop for hours and not buying anything. 13. Before turning the TV off at night I have to click through all the channels: just in case... 14. Whenever I see a magpie I have to work out and say the Magpie rhyme. 15. I have to count steps or stairs when I’m walking up or down them. And do you know something- now that I have written this list- they may be right! Thought for the day: You don’t have to be perfect to be happy! I have been watching the Eat Well for Less TV programmes on BBC 1 and although I have enjoyed it and found it interesting I have a problem with one aspect of the show. The premise of the programme is to change a family’s buying habits by stopping them from buying known brands and changing them to supermarket own brands as a way to cut the costs of a family’s weekly shopping bill. This is an excellent idea as some of the participants in the show are ridiculously over spending and wasting food regularly. However I have noticed at the end of the programme where the big reveal is shown that many of the supermarket brands come from a variety of different supermarkets. In last week’s programme three different supermarkets were shown Tesco, Sainsbury’s and Waitrose (these are just the ones that I recognised) which, to me is the crux of the problem. If the families shop at a certain supermarket, like they are filmed doing at the start of the programme then surely the supermarket own brand swaps should be from that supermarket. Most of the families have working parents who don’t really have the time to buy beans from Tesco, butter from Sainsbury’s and tea from Waitrose! Plus, by visiting lots of different supermarkets to buy their ‘food savers’ ;it would most probably involve more travelling and in the long run cost them more money! Doesn’t this defeat the purpose of the swap? Just a thought! Thought for the day: Little by little; a little becomes a lot! |
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