Pure joy is a hunky man carrying my cat.

This week me and Hubbie were watching an episode of Hawaii Five-0 that I had recorded a few weeks ago. I say 'we' were watching when in actual fact it was mostly me - on account of the fact that my passion for Steve McGarrett is what really draws me to the show. Hubbie was only half paying attention - as usual - so neither of us was entirely invested in it to be honest.

That was until this thing happened. It was a fairly uneventful plot and we were half paying attention and laughing at our kids (we only do this when they've gone to bed as it seems funny when they aren't actually within earshot.) It was while we were chuckling at how odd they really are that we spotted someone very familiar on the TV.

Mr Pickles - looking a lot like Neo

Yep this guy. Apparently he's called Mr Pickles, but we know him as Neo. Yes. Our cat was in Hawaii Five-0 with Steve McGarrett and Danno !!! I cannot tell you how happy it made me to watch the hunky Alex McLoughlin carrying my cat around. A man who can carry a cat as casually as this is guaranteed to warm my heart and let's face it Alex didn't have to do too much to start with. 

Hey Neo, you lucky, lucky lad you. 

I think there is every chance that Steve / Alex may well usurp my beloved (and now married) George as the one who I would leave Hubbie for. If I 'had' to, not for nothing - obviously. 

*Sigh*

So, I'm sharing these images with you and on the blog so that on days when the boys have left the bathroom looking like the Somme and the kitchen looks like a gaggle of cats have had a drag race around it all night or when I trip over teeny tiny hot wheels cars or bleedin' construction pieces of any kind (I will actually maim whoever told my son about those !!) I can find a quiet space, go to this page and drool. 

Danno, Steve and Neo / Mr Pickles. 

Oh and when I showed the photos to big boy he said, "It's not Neo Mummy." I asked how he knew and he said, "His eyes aren't that colour." I didn't have the heart to tell him it wasn't the cat that I was paying attention to. In a few years time he will have his own obsessions to indulge. 

And me and his Dad will laugh about it when he's gone to bed. 

And another thing...

I found myself wondering this morning what constitutes stainless steel. I know, it's a laugh riot around here most days. Anyway, the cutlery set I've been using for around 15 years is now marked with rust stains which I'm pretty sure is not what is supposed to happen. I have a 'good set' which I can use instead, but I am still puzzled. Why do some things just not make sense ?

School photos used to include a formal photo in uniform and looking like you had been forced into it - now it's all posed like your child is in a Next catalogue photo shoot. I don't want him jumping in the air or looking down at his feet like a movie star in an aftershave advert, just give me a traditional awkward photo that his grandmothers can put on the wall unit and embarrass him with when he is 15 and too cool for school.

When did simple fairies get promoted to Fairy Princesses ? Isn't it enough to be a fairy with the magic and the wings and all that ? In the show Ben and Holly she is a fairy princess and he is an elf. Not an elf prince, a basic workaday elf. Oh and he isn't even given magic. That's just old fashioned sexism isn't it ? Admittedly it is turned on it's head from the traditional gender balance of power, but still.

Why can't I just buy a normal box of matches ? I have the worst oven in the world and need to light it using a contraption that cost £1, but needs to be refilled and since Hubbie hasn't gotten round to it yet we have been using those long cook's matches that aren't that good and are hopeless as they burn too quickly. Just a single normal size box of matches is all I need, but I have to buy either a mega pack of many boxes or pinch them from bars where smoking is not allowed, but matches are still kept under the counter.

What are toy manufacturers afraid we'll do if they don't lash the toys to the box using wires, elastic and now screws that require a screwdriver ? I mean shoplifting is annoying, but seriously when my boy opened all his birthday presents we needed a full toolkit to unpack the cars, transformer and fire engines. I'm just glad he didn't have a doll as well or we would have had to explain what looked like a hostage situation.

Ok, I'm not entirely curmudgeonly I will admit that it's better now that we have cool stuff like the internet on our phones. I mean I recall travelling on a train to Swansea at the break of dawn - seriously I was in my pyjamas and I brushed my teeth, changed my clothes and put in my lenses on the train -  only to arrive hours later to find my appointment had been cancelled and no one had been able to get hold of me. Now I'd be able to tweet them before I left and check train times and watch an episode of Hawaii 5-O to console myself when turning back half way.

So my list tomorrow includes finding a normal size box of matches, replacing the current cutlery with the 'good' cutlery and at some point getting a life.

Ok, ok, it's on my list.

I'll pack a bucket and spade - oh and a wetsuit too !!

My lovely blogger pal Louise copied me into her bucket list blog post where she once again reminded me that she is the only person I know who has ever built an igloo from scratch in her own back garden. Seriously, that is some hardcore making dreams come true stuff right there ! It made me wrack my brain to think about what I'd really love to have that cost next to nothing and what I'd do if money was no object. Here's what I came up with: 

My budget bucket list item is to have a photo of all of my family members at once. It doesn't have to be a professional photo, just one that features my parents, Hubbie's parents, our brothers and sisters, us and the boy. We don't have any photos of all of us so it would be lovely to get one taken. Any time we have a family get-together someone can't make it so it's not been possible up until now and as our boy gets older I'd like to have a memento of all of his uncles, aunties and grandparents. Of course there is every likelihood that someone will be looking the wrong way (Mother-in-law) or will be fussing with their clothes (my Mum) or making a strange face (any and all of our siblings) or midway through start running off resulting in a blur for a body (our boy, always our boy). Still it'd be nice to have and seeing as everyone has a camera on their phone, tablet and some people even have actual cameras (I know, weird huh ?) it can't be that impossible can it ? 

My "break the bank" bucket list item is to go to Hawaii with Hubbie and the boy and learn to surf and relive my favourite scenes from Hawaii 5-O. Now those of you who know me a little bit (or have read earlier posts) will know that I have a crush on Steve McGarrett - the new one, not Jack Lord, although I'm not casting any aspersions on his attractiveness of course. I have also always wanted to learn to surf and even paid a deposit to do a beginners surfing course on Fistral Beach in Cornwall over ten years ago that I bottled out of doing at the last minute. Since then I've watched friends having lessons on a beach near Swansea and I've thought about doing a course myself, but nothing has come of it. If I was in Hawaii I'd *have* to learn to surf. I mean it's a cultural thing isn't it ? Also, I have a teeny tiny wetsuit for the boy and it won't get used if we don't take him to learn to surf and that would be such a waste. I did also mention to Hubbie that if we did go to Hawaii for our tenth wedding anniversary we could renew our wedding vows - don't judge, it's a thing alright ? I can just see us on a beach wearing a grass-skirt and coconut bra (and that's just him !). Of course now I've actually applied for a passport for the boy it'll make it easier to take him on holiday. I'd love for him to have some amazing memories of learning to surf 'somewhere exotic off the telly.' If I bump into Alex O'Loughlin we're there, well that's just a bonus isn't it ?

This post is my entry into a competition with Money Supermarket www.moneysupermarket.com/life-insurance/competitions/budgetbucketlist - if you want to join in too you've got one more day - get cracking !! 

I thought I'd also share with a couple of blogger pals who have sufficient imagination to write an exciting bucket list:

www.culturalsnow.blogspot.co.uk (he would write his wearing a monocle and a hat - probably)
www.sliceofbarnes.com (her list would probably feature Adam Ant)
www.jenniferslittleworld.com (she'd craft her list in some creative and amazing way, probably using felt)

Resolutions Schmesolutions :o)

If you'd told me at the start of this year that at the end of it I'd have a weekly radio show of my own I'd have looked at you sideways and smiled kindly. I'd also have been amazed if you'd told me that the most toxic female journalist of modern times would refer to this blog in a column following the fab Mumsnet blogfest event.

So it's with this in mind that I am starting 2013 in a novel way. I won't be detoxing or giving up anything on Jan 1st. Not because I have a perfect life or I am as good as I think I can be, but because I'm coming at this resolutions thing from a different perspective for a change. Instead of stopping doing something I'm going to concentrate on doing more of things I want to do better. By doing that I hope that I will spend less energy and time on the things that I don't need or want.

So, in no particular order:

I am going to make time to read. I was given so many great books for Christmas and I still haven't read the ones I got last year. I'm sure it's possible for me to make time in my day to read a little bit - although this might mean watching less Hawaii 5-0.

I'll be trying new sporting activities that I haven't done before. I've been doing the same exercise classes for almost 4 years now and while they are fun it's a routine for me and I attend because I feel guilty if I don't. That's not a good reason. I used to play softball and scuba dive and ski -  what happened to that action chick ? Oh yes I am a middle-aged Mum now, but that's no excuse is it ?

At least once a month I will go to the cinema and watch a movie - this may entail finding a movie buddie or I could go along on an afternoon when my boy is at nursery. This is all thanks to Hubbie being super generous and getting Sky movies so I can see films at home, but let's be honest sitting in a dark room at home isn't the same if you haven't overpaid for the popcorn.

I'm going to cook at least one recipe from each cookbook I own - and no, not just the baking ones !! Kind people have given me some great books full of recipes which I look at and go "ooh aah," but I haven't actually followed any of them yet.  My aim is to make a seasonal Slater stew, some gorgeous Gok gyoza and anything from the achingly beautiful Lilli Vanilli baking book I won from a fellow blogger. I hope to find some interesting new meals and to use ingredients I haven't tried to cook with before. I will, of course, share how this goes with you for good or ill (preferably not getting ill !)

I'm sure I'll think of other things as time goes on, but these are a pretty manageable start I think. They are already better than my original list which was:

To be able to afford to use Aveda shampoo and conditioner

To have someone to do my hair for me at home

Have a personal trainer to get my backside to exercise when I want to sit on the sofa watching Hawaii 5-0
The beloved Kitchenaid mixer which I really want to own, but I can't justify the cost of 

To be able to travel first class - anywhere

I realised that all of these were materialistic and made me sound like I want to be Madonna - which I used to when she was all cool and wore rubber bangles and lace in her hair, but not so much now.

Thanks for reading my blog and for listening to my show. If you haven't yet tune in at 1pm today or you can podcast it later.

Hope 2012 was good to you and here's to not turning into Madonna in 2013 :o)