Not So Purple Thoughts

On my day off (if parents have these), I find myself scraping muddy football boots with a toothbrush. The layers are so thick I'm practically digging in the dirt. Bleh... This would be the perfect moment to handover to the husband and say, "Awww, you two are so alike, both live and breathe football..." Cleaning boots is part of the fun, right? Well... he's at work today and there is a game in the morning, hey ho...  Muddy boots misery over, time to unwind. Hot chocolate in hand, a splash of Baileys would do nicely. I'll have to save that one for later since I'm on childcare duty. Swirling glitter lantern on. Browsing Christmas movies. Boom! "To escape a scandal, a bestselling author journeys to Scotland, where she falls in love with a castle - and faces off with the grumpy duke who owns it." Sign me up! If only children didn't play football around the house. No, they are not allowed, especially with all the Christmas ornaments up. They still do i

Willingly or not and with various levels of anxiety, we are being propelled back to our "normal lives." As much as I welcome the long-lost freedom, I can't help but feel uneasy about it at the same time. Especially as the weather is slowly turning, and we are spending more and more time indoors.  We no longer have to self-isolate after coming into contact with COVID-positive people. Unless we test positive. We can continue to work, drop off children at school and activities, meet with friends and family. Unless we test positive. The question is, what if we take the test too early? We will carry on with our lives, infecting many others in the process. Only to test positive a day or two later. It just doesn't seem right. After eighteen months of drumming into us how deadly the virus is and how we must protect everyone, we are being told to get on with it. It is not an easy transition, considering the pandemic hasn't ended yet... Travelling through Europe in the summ

I started this post a couple of months ago. Oops! What is my excuse? Work was busy, and that's enough to kill one's inspiration. I also secretly hoped the subject of online hate would become irrelevant. Why wouldn't it? Miracles do happen! You want an example of a miracle... Bennifer is back!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (readers frantically googling Bennifer) I had to throw it in there ha ha. Well, I couldn't believe it when it came up in my news feed. Anyway back to earth, twenty years should be enough time to learn to be more sociable on social media... But when England lost Euro 2020 after leading for over an hour, I knew it would blow up again... with hate... not with support, compassion or appreciation... The social media giants failed to stop the hate wildfire from spreading once again.  It's sad to think how much damage one hateful comment can do. All the love overshadowed by hate and erased in seconds. Lives destroyed. Am I being too dramatic? Definitely not. We don't

It appears that Coronavirus is not the only thing that has been spreading. Many of us have been infected with a desire to own a pet. An idea most likely spurred on by the fact that we couldn't see anyone in person for a while, let alone hug them.  Apparently two in five people in the UK bought a puppy during lockdown... I admit, both myself and my other half have developed a weird obsession of frantically browsing through webpages of rescue dogs. Luckily for the dogs, we have been out of sync. One week he says we are getting a dog, but I'm not having it. The following week I'm ready to take the big step, except he has since come to his senses and decided it's not for us.   Somehow, between the conversations about the benefits of owning a pet and watching "The Dog House" (a very soppy programme on Channel 4 *you've been warned*) a hamster made his way into our lives. Yes, a hamster, not a dog.  It's Saturday night and I'm trying to relax and watch a

This is when I go language-heavy on you, ha ha, hoping you will find it interesting.  Slang is the most fascinating language phenomenon to me. Say what? Slang is informal speech they don't teach us at school, generally inclusive to particular social groups. Vivid, fun and often taboo. You probably already use it without realising it. Apparently, a slang word has to be in circulation for a decade before it appears in the dictionary. Its first recognised use dates back to the 18th century when it was considered the vocabulary of "disreputable" people. By 19th century, it was no longer associated with such people, although it continues to be the informal or "low-register" language (not to be confused with jargon or colloquialisms).  As a living thing, language is forever changing. New words come in, old words die out. Music (often rap music), films, television, internet tend to be the key slang influencers. Is it worth trying to keep up with it? Depends who you com

I'm not sure when vigils became political... Perhaps the growing feeling of social injustice has something to do with it? Perhaps there is a belief that making them political will help to bring the much needed change? Still, I have no intentions to get political here.  When I heard what happened to Sarah Everard (RIP), I was shaken to the core. Last weekend, I read an article referencing the tragic loss and it touched a nerve. My sons ask if a man has ever hurt me. Not really, I lie | Life and style | The Guardian A man has never hurt me, but without giving it a second thought I could add a few examples to the list of when I felt unsafe or harassed... Suppose, similarly to the author of the article, I should consider myself lucky... Except, I don't want to feel lucky. I want feeling safe and respected to be the norm.  Despite the overwhelming statistics, I'm not pointing the finger at men. Anyone can be an abuser. Anyone can fall victim to abuse. The bottom line is, we need

Today is indeed International Women's Day. And I know it doesn't mean much for most people in the UK, but it is slowly creeping into our lives, the same way Black Friday or Christmas Eve boxes did. Each year, there is more talk about it in the media and we become more aware of it.  It used to be predominantly celebrated by the socialist movement and communist countries - a perfect excuse for my dad to ignore it altogether. What is my childhood memory of it? Women getting flowers, carnations, to be specific. How boring, you might say. Surely, there were other flowers available. Except that's all I remember. Maybe that's why I much prefer other flowers now.  But as a grown woman, I truly hope International Women's Day is more than that. It is 21st century, yet there is still so much to do. We're still not getting equal pay or job opportunities, there are not enough of us in positions of power and it has just been highlighted our healthcare needs improvements (in t

At the beginning of December, we came out of the second national lockdown in the UK. The vibe was high. There was news about several vaccines. And we were all looking forward to seeing some family and friends during the respite period over Christmas. COVID-19 cruelly took that away a few days before. The respite period was cancelled, and we were told to stay at home.  The holidays have passed and despite being in Tier 4 (the highest alert = stay at home) we were getting ready to take the kids back to school. At 8pm the night before their first day back, the news came through about the third national lockdown... A necessary measure to curb the virus, as immunisations were being rolled out and hospitals were at their maximum capacity.  Still when the words were spoken, many of us felt like someone pulled the rug out from under our feet... Back to juggling home schooling with working from home, back to 24/7 "virtual reality" and no human contact outside our households, back to t

This is it. I have given birth to my first ever book! Can I say that? Yes, yes I can because I have been through both childbirth and "bookbirth." And it does compare. Perhaps the latter is not accompanied by physical pain, but the mental anguish nearly drives you to it. Believe me.  Us people who write face the same dilemmas as parents.  What kind of world am I bringing my "baby" into? Is it the right time? How will it do? Will there be another? I'm sure many will agree that the writing process is an emotional rollercoaster ride through the peaks of inspiration and the valleys of self-doubt. Some days I feel like I have a message to share, other times I can't get through a page without thinking this is the naffest thing in the whole wide universe.  What I definitely didn't realise when I first decided to self-publish my book, was how much work it involves. And that's after you've finished writing. Honestly, you need a team. I can't afford a t