I’m planning on redesigning this shizzle over the next week, and have just bought a separate hosting package for it all.  Up until now I’ve just been pointing geekmama.co.uk to my other hosting account, and it was annoying me that I couldn’t do all the cool stuff I wanted to, with it just being a redirect.

Soooooooo, if this page disappears in the next 24 hours and is replaced with an empty generic looking blog, you’ll know why.  All my content will still be here, but will only be accessable via www.angybabi.co.uk/geekmama  for a day or so.  I’m not deleting anything until I know I’ve imported it all to my new domain.I do not trust myself to not lose the lot otherwise.

I’m so sad, I’m really excited about having something to geek about with for a while, haha.   I have no idea what the new geekmama.co.uk will look like, none at all, but that’s half the fun.

I’ve just built a temporary desktop PC to tide me over until I can get a new laptop, so can finally get myself sorted and back into some kind of Internet routine.  The laptop I’ve been using since my beloved Gateway machine went to the big computer graveyard in the sky was AWFUL.  It had 6 letter keys missing from the keyboard, as my delightful child picked them off when he was a toddler, so I had to guess the letter and stick my fingers in a hole to type properly, or use a separate keyboard.  It was an 8 year old thinkpad, and SO slow.  It couldn’t run Tweetdeck, Photoshop, any messenger programs or even Flickr uploadr, and could barely run Firefox without freezing every 10 minutes.  This set-up I’ve just built (and am using now) is by no means top of the range, but the processor is fast enough to use everything I need to use in the meantime.  I’ll need to get a new graphics card, as my old one has blown, so will Ebay one during the week, and then I can get back into photo editing again, but for now I’m perfectly happy to be back.

This weekend has been spent shopping mostly.  I was getting to the stage that I was fed up looking at Callum in the same clothes he’s been wearing for months, so a shopping trip was in order.  I got him some lovely little tops from Mini-Mode, and some jeans from M&S.  I’m quite disappointed with the Next range this season, so left there empty handed - a first I think.  Zara have some lovely T-shirts in, but they are mostly short sleeved, so will wait another couple of months before stocking up on them.  I can’t wait for the nicer weather so I can put him in cut 0ffs and converse, *sigh* (me too, actually)

Tomorrow we’ve decided to be tourists in Glasgow, and go to the Art Galleries and Transport Museum, so that should be fun.  My camera battery is on charge as I type.  Cal has been a bit under the weather today (bit of a cough, and I thought he had the start of a temp this afternoon, but it didn’t come to anything) so it’s all dependant on how he is, but I’m looking forward to the prospect of some great Glasgow culture.

Speaking of cameras, did I mention that my lovely friend Emma sold me her Canon EOS350D DSLR camera when she upgraded a couple of months ago? I adore it, and can’t wait to start taking some lovely outdoor shots with it. I’m still very very rusty with it, but am having fun learning how to use it.  (Which reminds me, I must re-download the manual to this PC..) A lovely man that my mum works with gave me a telephoto lens to use with it too, which was really nice of him, as they cost a bomb!  I also have my eye on a prime lens for portraits that a couple of people I know have recommended, but that shall have to wait until the laptop issue is properly resolved I think.

I went to Manchester last weekend with my lovely friend Kelly, and met up with another 2 of our good friends - Emma (of bargain camera selling fame up there ^) and Suzanne - for a night out.  We met up with a load of girls from a facebook group we belong to and went for a chinese in The Printworks then onto the Birdcage drag club.  It was a great night.  My friend Suzanne has a beautiful little baby girl who we met for the first time on the Sunday, oh she is heart meltingly gorgeous.  I think we all fell in love with her a bit.  We also met up with Mel and Shelley on the Sunday too before Kelly and I jumped on the MegaBus back to Glasgow.  (Never travel by megabus, btw).

I have a semi-busy week ahead this week, have to do some things for my mum at her house on Monday, and am off to visit my friend’s new baby girl one day too.  (YAY, baby shopping!).  I think I’m going for lunch with one of the nursery mum’s on Tuesday too, and need to arrange to see my best friend as I’ve not seen her for over a month now, eek,  so busy busy.

Right, it’s 11.40pm, so that will have to do for tonight, I promise to update frequently from now on, honest!!

Byeeeee!

xxxx

p.s.  - I’m ADDICTED to Twitter.  Follow me, I’m geekmama

Well the Christmas tree is gone, the chocolate pile is depleted, and we’re back to nursery tomorrow.  Looks like the festive season is well and truly over.  I am not looking forward to getting back into the routine of having to be out the door at a certain time 5 days out of 7, but I think it’ll do The Boy a lot of good.  He has so much excess energy to use up at the moment, I really feel for him.  This freezing weather isn’t really optimum out and about “tire him out” weather, so we’re spending alot of time indoors being generally bored.  He’s even bored with painting and play doh at the moment, so I know he needs to get back to nursery!  Hopefully it will help his sleeping too, as he’s been waking quite a bit in the night over the last couple of weeks.  I’m sure it’ll take a few days for him to adjust but I’m hoping he’ll be back to his 7pm-9am sleep marathons again within the week.

I need to start a detox ASAP.  What with winter colds and being run down, and the excess of alcohol and  delicious but unhealthy foods that accompany the festive season, my skin/hair/waistline/sleep pattern and general well-being is not at it’s best, to say the least.  I’ve already ditched the diet coke for pints of water, and am using up the crap from my freezer so that I don’t cave in to the temptation of shoving some additive filled crap into the oven instead of cooking something vaguely healthy after I do my weekly food shop this week.  Midweek drinking is over too.  I was looking forward to the bracing walk to nursery in the cold tomorrow, both for the exercise and the energy boost it would give me, but my lovely friend called this afternoon and offered us a lift tomorrow as her husband is off work, and I could not refuse. The lazy bastard in me won over again, bah. Ah well, there will be plenty of other opportunities to freeze my bum off this week I’m sure.

I also realllllly need a haircut.  I’m growing it at the moment but it’s at that annoying stage where it’s just about to descend past my shoulders, so still needs some semblance of shape to it, but never keeps it because it keeps brushing against my shoulders.  I also can’t decide what to do with my fringe.  Grow it out and be a spamhead? Get it thickened? Argh, I hate my hair, and my forehead.

I think the depressive, lethargic blah feeling of January just magnifies all my flaws and insecurities.  I feel run down, so my skin is crap, making me feel ugly and pasty. I eat too much, leaving me feeling bloated and sluggish, making me feel fat and unattractive.  The weather is shit, leaving me with no motivation to go out and do stuff because I’m ugly, pasty, fat and unattractive and, well, the weather is shit!  Need to sort this ASAP.  Get off your arse Geek Mama and get some motivation!

And it’s all over for another year. Booooo!

We stayed at my mum’s on Christmas eve so she could watch Callum opening his presents in the morning, so she came to pick us up in the afternoon (after a mad dash to Sainsbury’s to try and find mascarpone for the cheesecake - talk about leaving things until the last minute). We had some chinese food delivered and then I went out for a walk, and met one of Santa’s elves who gave me a special present for Callum to open before he went to bed. What a stroke of luck - It was some lovely christmassy pyjamas for him to wear to bed! How exciting! Callum looked terrified when I told him I had met an elf though, he was looking behind me incase it had followed me home. It was at this point I decided not to mention the fact a big man would be coming into his bedroom while he was asleep quite so much as I had been doing.

Callum hung up his stocking and left some apple juice, a jammy dodger and a carrot for Santa and his reindeers. According to Callum Santa doesn’t like milk, but wanted apple juice in a spiderman cup as it’s his favourite one.

In the night, SANTA CAME!!!!

8.30am the next morning I woke to a very small boy clutching a bulging stocking excitedly telling me that Santa had been and he had left him prizes!!!! We hotfooted it through to gran’s bed to open the stocking. He was so excited. The only thing he had repeatedly asked for was some Pixar Cars cars, which he already had around 30 of. Santa had managed to find 6 that he didn’t already have, so he was absolutely delighted to find them in his stocking.

We eventually managed to get him downstairs for major present opening. This was his “santa has left MORE presents” face.

Last year, I had to virtually force him to open his presents, but not this year. He was so excited and pleased with every single thing he opened. He had a wee play with or at least good look at with whatever he opened before putting it in an ever growing line of toys/games/books before moving onto the next one.

All for me??

We had strategically placed the big present right at the back so he’d open it last. Aye right! He went for the biggest ones first and just climbed over the pile to get to them.

The workbench was a huge hit - thanks gran!

A few more present opening pics:

Bucks Fizz for Breakfast. (Don’t worry, Callum didn’t drink his, it was just
so he could “do cheers”)

I never managed to get a photo of the table this year. I normally always get one. We were somewhat running behind all day. Anyway, dinner was delicious as usual. This was Callum before the 2 hour tantrum he had which started during the main course. *sigh*

I didn’t take many more photos of the evening due to the tantrum killing my Christmas spirit, but here’s a wee one of Callum just before his proper bedtime. He came downstairs all smiles after a while so we let him play for a couple of hours before going back upstairs to bed. Night night Callum, Merry Christmas!

I hope everyone has had a magical Christmas and has a great new year when it comes!

I know I was supposed to come and do a photo post from the weekend, but I need to resize the photos to post them here and I’m terminally lazy.  I’ll definitely get round to it soon, I promise!

I don’t know if I’ve mentioned this here before, but a couple of months ago I was asked for ID in my local “friendly” Co-op while buying a bottle of wine with my shopping.  To put it mildly, I was absolutely raging!  I have been in that shop almost daily for the past year, and have bought many a bottle of wine there (hic).  The old hag woman who served me is the same woman who has served me every day for the last year, but suddenly, on one cold windy day in September, decided that I look under 21 and was not to be served alcohol.  I left my shopping on the checkout and walked out, and went to Sainsbury’s instead.  I fired off a total stinker of an email wondering why every other day I must have looked every one of my 32 years, but now I’ve suddenly lost at least 11 of them?  Anyway, I calmed down after a few days, and have never been asked for ID since.  UNTIL TODAY.  Same old hag woman, “do you have any ID on you love?” ARGHHHHHH.  I virtually threw my passport at her (the paranoia the last IDing incident caused has not left me, and I carry it everywhere now) and spat out that I’m still 32.  I am so angry at this stupid woman, she knows I’m over 21, absolutely knows.  Her bosses and supervisor serve me no problem when she is standing right next to them, my friend just started working in there a couple of evenings a week, and actually said to her about it (in a jokey way, of course), and still, she asks me for ID today. I really am taking it quite personally.  Not a happy bunny today about that at all.

And breathe.

Here’s a Callum-ism to balance things out.  I have a new mobile phone which The Boy is not allowed to play with, so I normally put it up on a high shelf so he doesn’t get his grubby wee mitts on it. I had been transferring some MP3s to it last night so it was lying on the table beside the laptop, and he was hanging around me looking really uncomfortable. (I actually though he needed a poo!). He eventually piped up with “Mummy can you put that phone in your pocket please?”. I asked him why, and he said “Because I really really want it and I might pick it up, put it in your pocket so I can’t get it”.
After the howling laughter from me subsided, I was actually quite impressed with his willpower.  He knew he wanted to grab the shiny gadget and play with it, but knew he wasn’t allowed to.  He knew his limits and that he wouldn’t be able to resist it for much longer, so wanted me to take temptation out of arms reach for him.  He really is an incredible wee boy, he amazes me every day.  (I did let him press the button to take a photo while I held it as I felt so sorry for him after that).

I’ve just had the best weekend that I’ve had in a long time.  I am shattered and in dire need of some sleep, but I will be back tomorrow with an update and photos of our girly weekend of dinner, drinks, shopping, SingStar and Starbucks.

I’ve been rubbish at blogging lately, been a bit stressed and feeling a bit blah with all the rain we had, then I was ill, the boy was ill and time went on…

Am feeling alot better now, the sun is shining most mornings and lifting my spirits, and there has been no snot in my life for 3 days.  I think it’s time to start blogging again.  I shall return tomorrow with a proper update - until then here’s a gratuitous photo of my very own little superhero on friday.

This week could do with being rubbed out and drawn in again.

It all started on Monday morning when I awoke at the ungodly hour of 7.15 with the rain pattering against my window.  15 minutes later the “rain” sounded more like a tap, and it dawned on me that it was coming from my bathroom (next to my bedroom). On inspection, I found that there was quite a great deal of water pouring in through my ceiling.  Wonderful.  A couple of nights before my bathroom lights had gone, and I hoped it was just a coincidence that 2 bulbs went at the same time, but no, there had obviously been a leak there for a couple of days.  *sigh*  Anyway, the upshot of it meant I was knocking on my neighbour’s door at 7.15 informing her that the contents of her bathroom pipes were actually in my flat.  Luckily, it was repaired that morning, so there was no lasting damage from the water.  The electrician came about lunchtime to repair the lights, but as it was still damp around the fitting, disconnected them and should hopefully be out tomorrow to re-connect them.

The boy has also been ill this week.  He had his first ever significant temperature which scared the crap out of me, and I ended up having to medicate him, which I really hate doing.  I hate that the thought of giving his wee body drugs that may mask symptoms of something serious, but the thought of febrile convulsions (note to self: don’t google child temperatures again) over-rode my hate of infant suspensions, and I administered baby nurofen type stuff a few times, which brought his temp down a bit.

He’s certainly alot better tonight, but is still milking it for all it’s worth with a “mummy I’m not feeling well, I think I need to sleep in your bed”, which worked of course, for the 4th night running.  He just fell out of my bed around an hour ago and when I went in to pick him up and put him back together again he wasn’t hot at all, so fingers crossed the fever has passed.

Earlier in the week we went to my friend Jen’s house to see her new puppy.  It’s a teeny border collie, only 5 weeks old and just beautiful.  It was a rescued runt from a farmhouse litter, and has a few breed related problems, but my friend is such a softie she decided to save it from certain death instead of taking a “perfect” one.  Well, Callum just adores her.  He would not leave her alone, and made such a fuss over this little ball of fluff.  It was so lovely to watch.  He was carrying her around like a baby (ok, like a bag of spuds, but a very fragile bag of spuds), and taking her over to her water bowl, bringing her toys and trying to put her to bed.  My heart was melting, and as a result I’m thinking that, as lovely as our goldfish is, it’s not really up to much in the pet stakes.  I’m seriously considering a kitten.  I’m giving myself 3 months to think about it, because if I don’t I’ll have one by the weekend, such is my love of cute fluffy things.  Need. To. Be. Sensible.

I don’t think I have much more to report, No nursery yesterday due to strike action (and the award for the worst timed pay-rise related strike goes to…..), no nursery today due to ill child, and no nursery tomorrow due to Scottish September weekend.  We have my best friend’s wee boys 4th birthday party on Saturday afternoon and a christening on Sunday, so a busy weekend ahead.  Please let us have no more illness and some sunshine.

xxx

I submitted my blog to blogged.com to be reviewed, and this was my result:

Not bad for what is mostly incoherent personal ramblings and dodgy music videos.  I want to get it up to over 9, but I suspect I’ll need to update more, and as I’m terminally lazy, I doubt that’ll happen any time soon.

I have this obsession with this guy, I don’t mention it much, (mostly because the insane laughter that ensues shortly afterwards is unnerving) but I think he’s fabulous and have done for over 10 years.  So my obsession, it’s still there, and still real, still laughable….  (and I must be serious as I let the coma that is Sheryl Crow into my blog on his behalf)