#100happydays Day Six

I have new shoes. They are spotty. They are appropriate for children probably but they make me smile, so there you go.

I've finally been through my clothes and thrown stuff away. I have very little left and not a great deal of cash to replace them.

But I have new spotty shoes.

#100happydays Day Five

Bit of a turning point today I think. I took the girls to town on my own because Paul is snowed under and they helped me buy clothes and shoes for myself, had fun at the cycling display, printed a picture with a bicycle, bought books and we had lunch - all without getting cross with each other or me. I feel like they are growing up.

We came home and watched Mamma Mia. It was extremely difficult to explain how someone couldn't know who the father is. They liked the songs though.

#100happydays

#100happydays Day Four

Today was Tilly's birthday outing to the theatre so my #100happydays picture is of Tilly's friends and the cast of the show.

It has been a bit of a struggle this year. She wanted to see a show but everything in Sheffield was too grown up, the wrong date, too avant garde or too expensive. I toyed with the idea of 'Fame' but decided she could wait a little longer before being exposed to teenage angst about alcohol, boyfriends and drugs.

We settled on 'Kidnapped' which is the Robert Louis Stevenson novel. It said an 'adventure for the all the family' and 'appropriate for age 6+'. Now I know some bright six year olds with wonderful attention spans, but never yet have I met one who could follow a plot about Jacobean politics.

Twenty minutes in I starting wondering whether I should have chosen Fame.

Fortunately these girls are the most amazing children in the world ever. They watched, only jiffled a bit (so little that members of the audience actually complimented me on their behaviour at the end), and took quite a lot in. They loved the swordfighting and meeting the cast at the end. They asked remarkable questions...although one did ask who "Charlie" was which made me wonder whether I should have given them a Scottish history lesson in the interval. The actors covered up quite well the fact that clearly this bit of knowledge was pretty pivotal to understanding what the heck was happening.

So the play (which was great despite being somewhat challenging), plus ice cream and giggling in the interval, questions with the cast at the end and the chance to carry a sword and everyone seemed happy.  Plus it has a bloke out of Take the High Road in it so I could briefly relive my essay avoiding youth in my head. It turned out to be a great afternoon.

I was truly astonished by these girls. She has a great bunch of friends and I enjoyed being with them. I even enjoyed driving five of them home - I never thought I would write that sentence.

So this was my fourth happy day. Now I'm knackered.

#100happydays Day Three

Day three of #100happydays but it's actually day four and I'm behind putting it on the blog already. I can sense this is going to get messy.

Bit of a rubbishy day. Not feeling very smiley. It was a toss up between this twenty minutes of relaxed happy calm, a photo of the Matilda programme because the girls sang "my undercarriage doesn't feel quite normal" at breakfast, and a photo of Phoebe's flashing shoes which flashed when I opened the shoe cupboard.

Not exactly a hoopla but I suppose to have three to choose from is a good thing. I picked this one because, well, she is lovely.

#100happydays Day Two

#100happydays Day Two

I left work early to go into school and eat with Phoebe for Mother's day. I took cake, and this is the best kind because they make and sell it in Fusion cafe, part of my fantastic work place. We ate cake and did hop scotch (thanks heavens for TVT) before the heavens opened and we went inside where we watched them dancing. No tears when I left either. Not at all bad.

#100happydays Day One

My friend suggested doing #100 Happy Days. Basically you take and post a picture a day, for 100 days, of something that made you happy.

At the moment I am quite grumpy. I will inevitably find it extremely hard to post only happy things without referencing something annoying. This is evidenced by my first picture which is a very happy thing but where I still manage to mention a not happy thing. I must try harder.

Anyway here goes.

Day One: An easy first day for #100happydays because it was a bonus strike day for my little one. She got to spend it with her friend so there were no tears unlike most school days, only smiles. Happy Phoebe, happy me. Plus I'm extra chuffed that I have such lovely friends who help me out when I'm stuck for childcare. Thanks Becky.

Cycling

You know that thing about it being like riding a bike? Half true.

I think it's been about 15 years since I rode a bike.Well apart from a brief weekend at Centre Parcs four years ago where I was left with a numb arse and no real desire to repeat the experience.

It's certainly been forever since I rode on a road. Largely because traffic in Sheffield is mental.

But car parking charges, petrol and my lack of waistline made me rethink. My husband cycles. People in Sheffield cycle. What's wrong with me?

I bought a bike.

I stood for thirty minutes in a well respected bike shop in Sheffield with cash in my pocket. I was completely ignored for the whole time while both of the only two members of staff on a Saturday afternoon discussed a very expensive bike with a customer who was clearly going to go home and try and buy one on Ebay. The difference was she cared about suspension and gave them the opportunity to show off. I wanted the cheapest bike they sold that would get from a to, well, b. I'm not trying to enter the Tour De France or anything.

So I took my money to Edinburgh Bicycle Company. It only took five minutes there before someone realised I needed help and I rather bluntly stated that I had £300 and five minutes to buy a bike to get me to work. I bought the cheapest bike in the shop. Everyone was happy.

It was only when I went to pick it up  a few days later that the commitment I had made hit me. This wasn't going to be all that easy. Obviously I knew I wouldn't have forgotten how to ride a bike, but I live off Abbeydale Road and even at 2.30pm the traffic is challenging.

I wobbled round the car park and cycled to the curb. I got off and walked it quite a long way up the road. I waved at some staff from work playing football and tried to pretend there was some reason why I had a bike but chose not to ride it. I was unconvincing.

Around the corner I braced myself and pulled out. Apparently I had gears. It was just a shame the one I was in was not the best for setting off in traffic. I tried to look like I knew what I was doing and deceived no-one. There is no bus lane at 2.30 so I wobbled and weaved around parked cars in fourth gear while frantically trying to work out how to change down and what on earth that other lever was for.

I got off again and crossed the road at the pedestrian crossing.

I didn't feel terribly confident so it was a while before I got back on the bike and set off up Carterknowle Road. Which is far too steep. I got off again.

A bin lorry filled the road so I decided to cycle on the pavement. Which is clearly illegal. I ran out of puff. I got off and walked home.

But you know what? You have to start somewhere. In my case I started half a mile from my house and mostly walked.