Category: Rambles

Making A Grown Up Blogger Decision

Rambles / 7 years ago / RelentlesslyPurple

I have no idea what I'm doing

I’ve been a bit quiet on the blog over the last week.. And I have some news.. I made a bit of a grown up blogger decision, with a fair bit of pushing from Tracey from One Frazzled Mum and Phil from Public Void Apps .. I’ve gone self hosted & moved over to relentlesslypurple.com!

I’ve still got a LOT to learn about this website stuff but I am remembering little bits & pieces and learning as I go and I seriously can’t thank Phil & Tracey enough for their help

I’m still looking for THE theme and keep tweaking things and changing my mind but I’m so impatient and excited I just couldn’t wait to share it with you all!

So what do you think so far? Do you have any tips or improvements you think I should make? Any theme suggestions? My site is for my reader’s and I am a bit of a noob haha! Providing it has some purple I’m happy 😉

Keep Calm and Carry On Linking Sunday

 

 

Sunshine Bloggers Award

Rambles / 7 years ago / RelentlesslyPurple
Sunshine Bloggers Award

I know some people aren’t keen on The Sunshine Bloggers Award or these types of posts in general but I enjoy doing them & reading other peoples answers so when I saw a tweet from Sarah who blogs at Mum&Mor letting me know she had nominated me for the Sunshine Blogger’s award I couldn’t wait to get started! So here’s my answers.. 

  1. What is your favourite food? I always used to say Chinese.. Whilst it is still up there I now eat such a huge variety of meals it’s pretty hard to choose! At the moment I’d probably go for BBQ pulled chicken wraps with spicy rice & nacho cheese ridged wedges smothered in Nando’s peri-peri salt! My favourite seems to be changing weekly though.. Haha!
  2. The first object to your right is your weapon during a zombie invasion. What is the weapon and how screwed are you? A cup of tea..I’m sure I’ll be fine.. At least I’ll get my caffeine fix?
  3. What is your favourite social media platform and how many followers do you have on it? Twitter of course! I have just over 3100 followers at the moment and absolutely love chatting to anyone.. I’m slowly getting less awkward and slowly learning to converse in under 140 characters haha!
  4. What bad things have you experienced during blogging? Losing my blogging mojo has to be the worst. I’ve had very few bad experiences so far even on my first blog apart from feeling I’m not ‘good enough’. I’ve realised though that the blogging world is HUGE and as long as i am happy doing my own thing that’s all that matters.
  5. What good things have you experienced during blogging? I’ve found some amazing people to chat to who have helped me through the rough days without even knowing it. Sometimes chatting helps a lot! I find blogging a great stress relief as I can get everything off my chest & if someone reads & relates that is brilliant.. If not I’ve still got it out there instead of holding it in.
  6. If you could be an animal for a day, what animal would you be and why? Definitely a dog.. Who wouldn’t want to be mans best friend!? Playing and getting cuddles all day looks awesome!
  7. You may choose one special ability out of two: living forever or being able to fly. Which one do you choose and why? I’d go for the ability to fly every time. No way would I want to live forever. At least if I can fly I can get to my brothers a lot more & get so much more done!
  8. What is the best day out you have ever experienced? Wow.. That’s a tough one.. Most of my days out have been spoilt in some way.. I’d probably go with my day out at Wat Tyler when we met up with my brother too it was a lovely day until my so called friend turned it into a very stressful day. Up until then Eva was over the moon getting a bit of freedom as long as she stayed within the limits I had set, watching my brother play with the girls in a place we had been to as kids ourselves was lovely and I can’t wait to go again!
  9. Which film has made you cry the most? Green Mile! One of my absolute favourites but the tears come on full blast near the end. Don’t tell people though as I don’t get emotional watching films.. Apart from this one!
  10. What is your ultimate pet-peeve and why? People who eat with their mouths WIDE open.. Like come on seriously.. If I wanted to see it I’d ask.. Bleurgh!

I’m nominating this lot to answer the question’s I’ve set below:

  1. Tracey – OneFrazzledMum
  2. Tracey – HooksandDragon
  3. Martyn – InsideMartynsThoughts
  4. Jo – FirstTimeValleyMam
  5. Al – OMGitsagirl

The rules are simple. Answer my questions below on a new blog post of yours, and then nominate another 5 bloggers for the Sunshine Blogger Awards.

  1. What makes your blog unique and stand out from the crowd?
  2. What’s your dream job?
  3. Your officially a superhero.. How does your costume look?
  4. Who is your favourite author?
  5. What is your dream car?
  6. How do you ‘chill’?
  7. Outside of blogging what are your top 3 things to do?
  8. What is the cutest thing you’ve seen/heard this week?
  9. Are you looking forward to Christmas or dreading it?
  10. Where’s your favourite place to be?

If your taking part make sure to tweet me when your post goes live so I can give it some love & shares too!


Family Dinners

Family / 7 years ago / RelentlesslyPurple
Family Dinner

To most people sit down family dinners is the norm. To my brother & I it’s something quite new, awkward, yet exciting.

Growing up it was rarely done, don’t get me wrong we did sit down occasionally, even at a table but it never felt like a family meal.. You know where you all sit chatting pleasantly, passing things around to each other, laughing and joking. Instead it was generally quite stressful and awkward.

My brother had a few more sit down meals than me growing up, whilst in children’s homes he says it was fun chatting to the other kids but not the same as a family dinner, in foster homes it was awkward sitting with a family he barely knew so he wasn’t keen on them and like me struggled with eating in other peoples homes in general.

So of course we HAVE to change that and with the Mr always happy to play chef we worked out the Sunday between our pay day and Alex’s pay day was the perfect day to turn into our family day. We started the weekend before last with a lovely beef roast as my brother hadn’t had a proper roast in over 5 YEARS! I know right, how disgusting is that!? Well that was quickly changed and we had an absolutely amazing day!

My favourite – Uncle Alex reading Jungle Jam to his Nieces 😍💜

With Alex around to keep the girls occupied it was much easier for the Mr and I to get on with bits in the kitchen & having a quick tidy up so it was also lovely for us that it was less stressful. We all worked together getting everything ready to sit down as we have no dinner table so instead we use the girls small tables & Alex decided he was more comfortable eating at the Mr’s desk.

Normally Alex is as awkward as I was a few years ago when it comes to eating around others but this time he was really relaxed, stopping every now & then to have a chat and it was just a lovely day & meal all round. My brother was really grateful which was lovely but sad at the same time.. I felt guilty thinking how many of his favourite meals he hasn’t had since I last cooked them when he was around 6/7. 

After chatting to Alex this Thursday and finding out how much our family dinner day had meant to him and how comfortable he really felt, I couldn’t wait for today! Hearing how it gave him a sense of normality & being part of a family rather than an outsider looking in honestly nearly had me in tears, I had to keep tidying to hide them.

Family Dinners

I’m calling him at 10.30am to make sure he’s awake and then once he’s ready the girls are going to come with me to meet him at the bus station. We are having Chicken Tikka Masala tonight and will be working through all his favourites letting Alex pick what he wants each time. It’s definitely something we will be continuing so I need to really get a wiggle on finding a decent table with 5/6 chairs so we can really do it properly!

Do you have sit down family meals? Is it something you all enjoy? Who decides what your eating? Also.. Any budget table and chair recommendations?

Surprisingly Good Luck

Crafts / 8 years ago / RelentlesslyPurple

I’m one of those people I’d class as unlucky & always feel quite suspicious when things begin to go my way but I’ve had surprisingly good luck lately &  for now I’m going to attempt to enjoy it!

My streak of luck started last week with a £5 win on a purple scratch card that the Mr got me. It’s something we only do occasionally so I was quite pleased with winning. We did our usual thing of buying 1 more each out of the winnings and keep the rest. I won £1 again on my one too.. Another Relentless.. Cheers!

I then found out I had one a pack of Posca Pens from a giveaway on MeYou&Magoo’s  #Craftingismytherapy Linky too! If you’re a crafter please do pop over & link up any craft related posts, the linky is quite small and could do with some more love 🙂 

I also won a box full of baby bits this week but unfortunately everything was for 0-6months so no good for Izzy. I ran a poll on Twitter to see if people thought I should run a give-away or donate the box to charity. After I had filled it up with more items of course! The overall vote was to donate it to a Charity. If you have any suggestions I’d love to hear them!

To top it all I found out I’m a winner of the Britmums Linky entry for the #Mamiadaysout challenge.. How awesome is that!? I was pleased when the Hamper arrived & again once it was empty! I filled it with wool to neaten up my craft stash, now I’m absolutely over the moon! (If you had a hamper what did you use yours for?)

Have you had any luck lately? Any wins or good luck in general? Let me know in the comments 🙂


Keep Calm and Carry On Linking Sunday

#WorldMentalHealthDay

Awareness Campaigns / 8 years ago / RelentlesslyPurple

#WorldMentalHealthDay

 

Today is of course #WorldMentalHealthDay. I wanted to join in and share a few things with you all to help raise awareness and help those struggling to see that they are not alone, such a huge percentage of the population struggle & feel so, so alone & that really needs to change. We need to reach out to one another & share our stories!

Mental Health is something I heard a lot about as a child as a lot of the adults I grew up knowing had depression, anxiety, bipolar & schizophrenia, so it is something I’ve learnt a fair bit about different issues over the years. I was going to look into statistics and figures but honestly I don’t feel there is any need, so many of us don’t say a word which leads me to believe the statistic’s are unrealistic.

I myself struggle with depression & anxiety and for quite some time I struggled massively with ED’s which I’ve slowly discovered has contributed to my Chronic pain which of course has caused me to feel quite depressed, I also struggle with how my Scoliosis makes my ribs stick out but sharing my stories in my blog has meant I’ve had a lot of support and encouragement from other people and that has made such a difference!

I talk openly on my blog about all these things, NOT for sympathy but to connect with other’s who feel the same, it can be very lonely and stressful when you feel worthless & too scared to ask for a little help and I truly hope that the blogging community sharing their stories helps anyone struggling.

My brother has Aspergers & PTSD amongst other things & yes he can be difficult to be around at times but that ISN’T his fault. He had very little support growing up and felt very alone, being pushed from one foster home or care home to another as a child and being sectioned as a teen and then suddenly being all alone in a tiny bedsit has been very stressful and hard for him.

He spiralled out of control turning to alcohol and drugs to numb the pain, he was EXTREMELY difficult to be around during that time BUT the Mr and I made it our mission to help him turn himself round. And you know what? With a bit of persistence, love and a little bit of a kick up the bum he has become a totally different person over the past year.

Now he is dealing with his issues and facing them in counselling he is coping much better. Knowing he IS part of our family & our home is his home has helped him relax and realise he is loved and cared for. He still has bad days especially because of his past but now instead of trying to numb the pain & destroy himself he picks up the phone and calls me or jumps on a train and distracts himself or talks his problems through and bit by bit he has turned his life round completely.

Talking about our problems can help us more than most things especially if we feel someone is actually listening, we know people may not fully understand but it’s nice to be heard and it makes us feel less alone.

What’s your story? What are you struggling with? What do you do to cope?

Image result for you are cared for

If you need to talk please do, my DM, email etc is always open to ANYONE that needs to talk, day or night! If you prefer there are plenty of charities to help, whether its over the phone, by email or on-line chat, whatever method you prefer there is ALWAYS someone waiting to help you and talk through your problems, PLEASE DON’T SUFFER IN SILENCE!

If you do need to talk to someone here is a small list of contacts:

The Samaritans are a well known organisation who are always there for a chat whether your just having a low day or you feel thing’s are much worse, get in touch!

Whatever you’re going through, call us free any time, from any phone on 116 123.

We’re here round the clock, 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. If you need a response immediately, it’s best to call us on the phone. This number is FREE to call. You don’t have to be suicidal to call us.

Another brilliant organisation is Togetheruk.org although I have no personal experience myself they offer a range of services around the country .

Together is a national   charity working alongside people with mental health issues on their journey towards independent and fulfilling lives.

MIND is an amazing organisation that offers counselling & they have helped both my and my brother. My brother still currently has counselling with them and I can honestly say that has played a HUGE part in his recovery. They offer a range of services and support too.

Contact us

Our lines are open 9am to 6pm, Monday to Friday (except for bank holidays).

0300 123 3393

info@mind.org.uk
Text: 86463

Even if you find ways to cope and manage and feel you have recovered well there may still be days you need a little chat to help you keep on top, please do ask for help if you feel thing’s are slipping again.

If you know someone struggling, make them a cuppa & share some cake & just be there to listen when you know they are feeling low. Sometimes just being there can mean so much, we don’t need to be told what to do or to just cope we just need a little love & understanding to help us through the bad days so we can fully enjoy the good days.

Week 3 of my 6 Week Gabapentin Trial

Physical and Mental Health / 8 years ago / RelentlesslyPurple

At my last pain management appointment I was asked to start a gabapentin trial over 6 weeks starting with 1 x 300mg a day & increasing by one 300mg tablet every Tuesday starting with 10pm then 10pm & 8am and now I am taking them at 2pm as well.

I know some of you are interested in how it’s going so I thought I’d keep you all updated.

Feeling good

So far I have felt some relief & I am now up to 3 tablets a day (900mg). It’s been a huge relief in the morning taking my 10pm tablet and I can get out of bed a little easier. In fact most morning’s I feel brilliant! Although the first few days I did feel a little spacey!

My mood has definitely improved & I don’t feel quite so depressed & anxious constantly. It’s been quite nice throughout the Gabapentin trial so far.

And a ton of other aches and pains 😂😂

Wearing off

By the evenings though it doesn’t seem to give me much relief compared to the morning. The 2pm tablet I started this Tuesday doesn’t seem to have made much difference but then I have also been quite busy this week & may have overdone it.. A little bit.. Or a lot.. 😂 So I have been very moody & snappy the last 2 days!

Lack of sleep obviously hasn’t helped much either this week and was up at very early hours yesterday! I’m still feeling pretty rough but not quite as miserable and snappy.

I’m looking at doing things like buying a shopping trolley on wheels (in purple of course!). That way I can go shopping alone without struggling so much and hurting myself more.

I guess I am slowly accepting this is only ever going to get worse and I need to start finding ways to do what I want to & have some freedom without trying to struggle with doing things the usual way. 

If your a spoonie what things make your life with chronic pain a little easier?

Out-Smarting A 2 Year Old With SmartMotion

Family / 8 years ago / RelentlesslyPurple

The Samsung SmartThings SmartMotion!

I reviewed the Samsung SmartThings Starter pack and won it last year. I still use the SmartPlug’s to control the Pump & Light on our fish tank (Can you Phone the Fish?)which is an absolute life saver especially if we aren’t home & forgot to turn on their pump!

I also use the  Multi-purpose sensor to send me a notification on my phone if something comes through the letterbox. 

 

The SmartMotion Sensor however I hadn’t really managed to come SmartMotionup with a good use for yet.

Izzy has recently started getting out of bed and coming in to the living room at night. She plays a bit of a game with it making sure to cover the monitor with a blanket or teddy so we can’t hear her sneaking out of bed.

She rarely wants something, she just wants to know what we are up to and with Eva making sure to keep her awake after we have put Izzy back to bed, we become yo-yo’s trying to get her to stay in bed. If we manage to catch her at her door she will generally go back to bed and go to sleep. If she gets any further though she thinks she’s winning and keeps trying.

Secret weapon: SmartMotion

Now it’s set up in the girls room so when they pass their chest of drawers (the range is pretty good too!) I get a notification on my phone. So as Izzy gets out of bed we can race her to their door and get her back into bed quickly and stop her little game. We’ve been using it for the last week now and she has learnt rather quickly WE KNOW and she cant (yet) find away to open that bedroom door without setting off the sensor Muahahah!

 

Now she will actually call through the monitor ‘poo bum!’ or ‘Melp pweeeeaaaaase’ when she wants something and doesn’t get up and down just because she can.

This could also be useful for potty training too as I will be woken up if she leaves her room to head for the toilet/potty. Samsung SmartThing’s Motion Sensor finally has a purpose. It also let’s me know the room temperature which means as the colder months draw in closer we can make sure there room is kept at a good temperature too!

How do you outsmart your kids when they are playing around at bedtime? Do you have a sensor? A video baby monitor? Do you have a SmartHub at home? Which one? Let me know 

🙂 Keep Calm and Carry On Linking Sunday



	


	

	





	

		
Struggling To Love My Body
		

			Physical and Mental Health /  8 years ago / RelentlesslyPurple		

		
			

					

	
	


	

		
I’m struggling to love my body. I have struggled massively with my body image over the years & been extremely unkind to it in the past but I am now slowly learning to love my body a little more.


I fell into bad habits & neglected my body & barely ate for years thinking I had to be smaller & slimmer, the Mr found ways to help me eat again and now I can even eat in public when I’m feeling good. Weight and size is now the least of my problems..


Finding out I have peripheral neuropathy has made sense of a lot of things for me recently. Although I still get frustrated with certain things, I know now what’s causing it so I don’t feel quite as ridiculous. BUT there’s one thing that has been increasingly bugging me.


 My scoliosis.Scoliosis 


Most people wouldn’t notice my Scoliosis (curvature of the spine) and it was completely missed for years. I don’t know how my back looks as it’s something I tend to avoid but my left rib cage sticks out.. A fair bit. My spine curves & twists to the left. Add in my tilted pelvis and well and I do look odd..especially if you look closely.


 


I always thought a jelly belly, c-section scar & stretch marks would bother me but these days not so much, I’ve learnt to accept that the Jelly belly & stretch marks are a part of me & my scar is so faded I barely notice it these days and see all these things are a reminder I carried my babies and brought them into this world.


I struggle with my rib cage sticking out though.. It always seems so noticeable in a tight top so I’ve started wearing looser tops again. I feel like I look very wonky. Wearing a bra HURTS after a little while as it digs in to my sticky out rib. It feels like it’s slowly getting worse so I guess it’s something I need to learn to accept. Hopefully I can just as I have accepted my jelly belly, scar and stretch marks.


Do you have scoliosis?


Does anyone else have Scoliosis and struggle with their curves? I know compared to many my curves aren’t that bad but it still bothers me at times, especially when getting dressed to go out. Nothing looks right, necklines look wonky.. It’s frustrating at times.


I’ve struggled majorly this past year to keep any weight on, I keep bouncing back down to 6 1/2 stone when I should be at least 7-8 stone and this makes my rib cage stick out and hurt even more. I’m trying my best to gain (I’m sure anyone that follows me on Instagram will know I munch a lot haha) but it has been tough and at best I’ve managed to get to 7 stone 4 and I’m currently 7 stone exactly.


I’m hoping perhaps with a little more weight the curve wont be quite as obvious and painful.. Anyone know if this would actually help? There is very little info out there on Scoliosis (anything I have found is American) and Dr’s don’t seem to know as much about it in the UK.


Do you struggle with your body image? What bug’s you the most?


	


	

	





	

		
Pain Management – Trying Something New
		

			Physical and Mental Health /  8 years ago / RelentlesslyPurple		

		
			

					

	
	


	

		
Pain Management


I had pain management today and was quite anxious about going. It didn’t help that I had to go to the Dr’s first where I didn’t get seen until half an hour after my appointment time but the main reason was that I needed to bring up the fact that whilst my First steroid injections for a little while things had gone down hill since.


After explaining I’ve been getting electric shock type pains all over, the burning and tingling I’ve had, how everywhere seems to constantly ache especially when I’m cold, my memory has gotten worse and I’m struggling to keep my balance amongst other things The Dr decided the injections weren’t going to be helpful as I had 3 injections at once not just one so it should have helped for a lot longer and instead, I was offered a trial of Gabapentin.


Gabapentin trial


I had to think about it quickly.. I don’t want to rely on yet more tablets but I’m struggling so much to cope with the pain. Everyone must be as bored as I am with all my complaining. With the cold weather setting in I’m honestly scared to think I could feel the same as last winter. I decided to give it a go.


Pain management - Gabapentin


I’ve not really read much about Gabapentin up until now and I still don’t know a lot about it but it sound’s like it’s worth a go so tonight I’ll be taking my first dose of 300mg and gradually up the dose over the next 6 weeks & hopefully it will help.


Have you tried Gabapentin for Chronic pain? Did you find it helped much? What dosage are you on or are you trialling it yourself? I’d love to hear from others too and find out how they get on!


	


	

	





	

		
Staying On Top
		

			Physical and Mental Health /  8 years ago / RelentlesslyPurple		

		
			

					

	
	


	

		
I’ve shared quite a bit on this blog over the last year and I have to say it’s definitely helped, even when I went through a quiet patch the blog was still here being read and liked & commented on and I’ve started to get back into the swing of things again.


Staying on top


I’ve met some lovely bloggers & I’ve noticed myself interacting more and over the last few weeks that has given me a bit of a boost to be honest. Now I’m full of idea’s again and being a lot more organized jotting down notes and dates so I don’t keep forgetting and feeling empty and useless.


On top of all that reading what other’s have gone through or are going through has really been a big motivation for me on bad day’s, if they can carry on & find ways around their challenges I can too!


Sometimes it makes it easier to push through and get things done and sometimes it reminds you to take that much needed break. All in all I think it’s helped me restore some kind of balance and I feel like I’m staying on top of everything again not just the blog.


During my quiet patch I spent a lot of time thinking I was completely useless. My brother especially has helped me see that although I am limited by what I can do, it doesn’t make me lazy, he reminded me of our ‘mother’ growing up and how much more I do for my girls in comparison.


I spend a lot of time pointing out what I can’t do and all the things going wrong but I’m trying to focus on what I can do and what’s going well instead. Instead of feeling awful for taking a break I use that time to blog or chat or crochet so I’m still doing something rather than feeling sorry for myself.




I know there are still going to be days where it is all too much but hopefully with a bit more positivity those days will become fewer.


I’ve started writing notes in notebooks, on post it’s and on our little whiteboard on the fridge to help me remember things & it is definitely helping me be a bit more organized. Perhaps if I finally start using my planner and calander a little better too I’ll spend less time frustrated & forgetting things & getting more done aswell as actually resting when I need to.


Hopefully I can stay on top of things and keep positive for a while! How do you stay on top? What help’s you stay positive?