substitute

When Im flagging in the afternoon I tend to go for something chocolatty (like a mars bar or snickers bar).

So now that I am on a diet I have had to have something different...

so I have been eating 2 apricots instead at 37 calories as opposed to 177 (mars bar) or 211 (snickers bar)!

I tried having half a mars bar the other day (before deciding the apricots would be better) but ended up eating the whole thing.

They get me through but in all honesty I would still go for the chocolate everytime :)

why didnt I think of this 2 years ago?

When we go into town Evies choice of drink is always hot chocolate with whipped cream on top, she always eats the whipped cream and sometimes drinks the drink.

Yesterday we were in town and Evie wanted her usual drink so I got her a mocha babyccino with whipped cream (that way I only have to pay for the cream).

So Evie ate the cream and had her lunch, I went for an iced skinny latte (as it was such a warm day).

So after we had finished I asked Evie if she wanted anymore of her drink (and she said "no thank you") so I poured it into my cup and she immediately started drinking it :)

So on our way home we kept on stopping so she could have another sip :)

drinking her drink her way

So next time we are in town (tomorrow) I will make sure (depending on what Im having) that I also ask for a plastic cup with a lid :)

its getting close

I was just looking on my smartphone and saw on my calendar widget that the teachers home visit is only in a couple of weeks!

buying the weather

Quite a few weeks ago on the Film Review podcast Simon Mayo was saying about  a podcast that he listened to.

So I added it to my memory bank and looked to download the episodes the next day.

The podcast is a show on a community radio station in a city in the desert where every conspiracy theory is true :)

A segment in the show is the weather and a song is played.

The song I heard last night was Evelyn by Kim Tillman & Silent Films (I actually found it cheaper on I Tunes).

I really liked the song and not just because of the name (but it did help to clinch the deal) :)

target set

Following my shock (ok truth be known not so much of a shock) weight gain I have set myself a target of 4 stone that I would like to lose (I will make do with 3 and a half stone) and would still be chuffed to lose a stone and a half to be at less than I was when I had my hernia operation.

Yesterday while doing our food shop I made sure that I got myself some lowish calorie desserts and something to satisfy my chocolate fix.

I have now set up my food diary (and I can get to it on my smartphone too) and it shows on there my starting weight, the goal that I want to lose and my % towards it :).

With Evie now its not so easy to go out for long walks especially when James is at work or out doing his Ingress stuff.

Couldve been

Better or worse.

I weighed myself this morning (I was hoping to do it before I ate my breakfast) but couldn't get to the weighing machine.

When we do our food shopping I will make sure that I don't buy any yummy bits that I usually snack on.

back to the food diary

For the past few days I have been looking for a gillet...

I looked in Primark and found one but didnt like the zip, then yesterday I had an e-mail from Sainsburys saying that they have 25% off clothing so as we were going in there for our midweek top up I had a look in there.

I found this one...

...I tried on the size that I thought I was and I couldnt get it on, so I tried the next size up and it fitted and did up but was very tight, so I ended up getting the next size up (and the largest size they do in store) :(

So to make myself feel better I bought a huge bread and butter pudding (which I had a quarter of last night - and didnt even bother heating it up) and a four pack of mars bars and snickers bars (which I havent opened yet).

I am going to weigh myself on Saturday just to see what I am looking at...

good vs bad

Yesterday me & Evie went into town and we got both good and bad customer service...

the bad was in Tesco of all places.

I had to take back a pair of trainers that we had bought for Evie 6 weeks ago as the top of the trainer was starting to wear away...

...the woman at customer services asked me if I had a receipt (I didnt) and she said that without proof of purchase Evie could have worn the shoes for the past 2 years and that is why they are worn out!

Apart from not being dishonest like that, surely when she put the code into the it would say that the product hadnt been available for 18 months, and Evies feet grow every 6 months so she wouldnt be wearing the same pair for 2 years.

I bought her some nice frozen ones and some frozen slippers too that she wanted :).

And the good was from Gems when we bought her tap dancing shoes.

The nice lady fitted Evies shoes and even recommended going up half a size (which it says on the website now as they come up small) and we even got a 10% discount because of the dance school she goes to :).

not for proper shoes

Today we are going to go into town to get Evies feet measured.

As she has already got some shoes for school we dont need to buy any and the only other thing she wants to wear are either her trainers or crocs and they are both size 8 (which is the next half size up anyway).

If her feet have grown then we will have to get her some new tap dancing shoes as long as we get the nice lady or man rather than the woman who couldnt be bothered!

I have explained to Evie already that we wont be buying new shoes today whether her feet have grown or not so we will have to see.

Wednesday and Thursday

On Wednesday me & Evie went to Southend with James Mum & Dad

Evie with the sandcastles she made with her granddad

On Thursday I had my (horrible) appointment so we went into town early to have a treat

Evie sipping her chocolate milkshake

Evie pulling her humpy face

mummys treat

The appointment itself went well and I should get the results back in a month

a pre appointment treat

When me & Evie were in town on Monday we were looking in the window of Patisserie Valerie which has recently opened in Debenhams, we were looking at the cakes in the window and Evie said that she would like to try the strawberry one (as she LOVES strawberries).

So today after we have had our lunch we will go into town and have a pre (horrible) appointment treat.

I already know what I am going to go for :)

and yes it will be chocolatty.

From the bathroom

I noticed the other day on the sky+ app that you can view the planner too (showing what programmes have been recorded) as well as adding programmes to it.

So while Evie was watching something I tried to watch something on the planner on my phone but all it did was play the programme on the main TV - oh well.

So this morning I was in the bathroom and Evie was downstairs and she shouted up that she wanted to watch something so as I had my phone with me I was able to put her programme on for her :)

Chelmsford Chocolat

On Friday me & Evie were in town and we were walking in a different direction as I wanted to look at the new restaurants in the restaurant quarter...

I was walking past the new John Lewis development and saw that Hotel Chocolat will be opening in Chelmsford so I just looked at their careers page and the only job in Chelmsford on offer is for a shop manager:(

I shall keep checking back...

...you may never know :)

booking appointments

When we came back from holiday I had a couple of reminders in the post...

...one saying that my horrible nurses visit needs to be done (the thing that is done is horrible not the nurse (she is nice) ;o)).

And dental checkups for me & Evie...

...so this morning I booked them up and they are both next week.

The nurses one will be late in the afternoon meaning that James can take Evie home or they can have a drink somewhere and I come and meet them after.

I just have to start naming all of Evies uniform now (we have a laundry pen so I may use that on some of the bits) and iron in the others.

the chocolate teapot place

When Evie woke up this morning she asked me what we were doing that day...

...she does ask every day :)

And I told her that we would go to the cafe where the other Tumble Tots was, and the same place where she had her hot chocolate in a teapot :)

And perhaps we will have some cake also :)