No, no, don’t get distracted by the title: I haven’t actually improved myself immeasurably since I last posted. It’s really more a matter of starting at the beginning. Or, for fans of The Sound of Music, let’s start at the very beginning, a very good place to start …..
….let’s call it 7 Steps to A New & Improved Me
- Start a blog – a little pat on the back, I have started it. However, it is terribly basic and needs a lot of beautifying (mmm…. this rings a bell!). I have spent a little time looking at various tutorials on how to add pictures etc, but I think I need to find a blog to help middle-aged Luddites with limited attention span create a pretty blog. I don’t think I can get too far on this though during the school holidays as I find it hard to concentrate when I have a child hanging off your arm and reading what you’re writing. Or indeed hear one shouting “….finished! I’m in the loo loo and I need your help”. So, this will go on the back burner until next week. (That will help fill a lot of those empty hours).
- Become a real runner – I started running a bit last year when the Littlest Angel was in part-time nursery, but haven’t really got to that stage where I love going for a run. I fervently hope that I can get to the stage where I look out of the window at a cold, blue sky day and hunger to get my trainers on and head out. Currently, I look out, barely suppress a shudder and put a wash on first before I reluctantly pull on my trainers and drag my sorry ass out for a ‘run’. (Not sure if my current speed really qualifies for the status ‘run’, but let’s just use it in its very loosest sense). So, I want to want to run; plus I want to run faster and longer. And not looking like a sweaty wreck in need of a defibrillator at the end.
- Lose my fat belly – Well, where to start here? Having 2 children, not racing around at work, maybe too many cakes, certainly too much wine – this heady combination has resulted in a jelly belly that has not gone away. So, I have finally given up waiting for the Fat Fairy to come and take it whilst I slumber, and will get off my sorry lazy ass and do something about it. And by stating it here, publicly (if I ever get any readers), I am committing myself to doing something about it. (In the interests of any eventual readers keeping their breakfast down, no pictures will be posted.)
- Get into art and culture – When I was a real person, with an actual paid job, I worked long hours and was obsessed with what I did. This left little to no time for hobbies and interests, unless you call drinking with friends a hobby, which I’m not sure I really buy. Now that Littlest Angel is at school, I am going to fill up my spongy middle-aged brain with art and culture. I made a start on it last week by becoming a member at The Tate. Watch this space to see what happens next! In fact, join me and let’s become Culture Vultures together!
- Improve my very rusty Italian – Back to the spongy and leaky, booze-addled old brain again! My Italian degree now a dim and distant memory, we bought a little holiday place in Italy recently which is surely the ultimate motivation to ramp my Italian! Andiamo!
- Increase my limited food repertoire – And what better use of my long, long days of freedom (or boredom), than to expand the dishes I make and introduce my Big Boy and Littlest Angel to more flavours, textures, genres of food. I am, of course, anticipating a lot of noses turning up and yuck! But perhaps they will thank me one day. (…or perhaps not)
- General anti-ageing – I used to scoff at the idea of scrubs, polishes and serums; now, rapidly approaching the mid-40 point, I realize that you can’t just throw any old thing on your face and expect to look like anything other than an old leather handbag. So, 2018 heralds a new era of taking off make-up, scrubbing, buffing and polishing. At this stage, I am not even ruling out facial yoga. Yep, you read it here first, facial yoga. (When I mentioned facial yoga to my husband recently, he replied with a very Northern “WTF! Facial what? Is that even a thing?”. Yep, dearest husband, it is a thing, and it’s about to be a thing in your very own home).
Feel free to watch, scoff, comment or even join me in my quest for self-improvement!
