Preparing to fly - or, how I use Pinterest to make my life way more complicated than it needs to be.

We are going on holiday soon and, about a month ago, work commitments for the husband were going to mean that the three year old and I had to fly by ourselves, whilst he followed later that day.

I'll be honest, I may have panicked a little. (A lot). I haven't ever flown on my own with her before, and the prospect (on Easyjet) wasn't particularly inviting.

I decided that the way to cope was by making sure she had plenty of things to entertain her on the plane...after all, we are going to be in the air for all of 90 minutes, so heaven forbid she should be bored.

So, rather than turning to the sticker book shelf at the Works (other budget sticker suppliers are available), I for some reason decided to search "free paper doll printables" on Pinterest, and get a bit over-excited by what I found. Cue totally unnecessary Pinterest overdrive...but miraculously no true Pinterest fails!

There's a lot out there. All done for you so you don't need any artistic abilities. Just a printer, scissors, and perhaps some double-sided sticky tape. And some card. And some glue. And duplo bricks. Oh, and a craft knife.

The three year old will therefore be flying with...

Frozen mix and match duplo (made using free Frozen printable from Red Ted Art - here: https://www.pinterest.com/pin/272397477438897694/ and the idea from here: https://www.pinterest.com/pin/272397477438901369/). To be fair she found this in the bag and played with it until I took it off her...it may have a longer shelf life than the flight.

My little pony paper jigsaw (printable from here: https://www.pinterest.com/pin/272397477438897668/). Pretty but that's a lot of very tiny cutting out. Including applying a tiny bit of double sided tape to each piece so she can stick them together on the plane without a pritt stick...(it was during this cutting out that I decided on the title of this post).

And what I was originally looking for - printable paper dolls - these from here: https://www.pinterest.com/pin/272397477438897702/ but there are loads out there. Again, a lot of cutting, plus a bit of sticking to put the dolls onto card, but no double sided tape this time.

As it turns out, the husband is flying with us after all, my panic has subsided somewhat, and I now realise that I have totally over-prepared for a very short flight, and have started to develop scissor blisters after two solid evenings of cutting out tiny things. This would never have happened before Pinterest...my total absence of artistic ability would have killed all of the ideas way before the cutting stage.

On a plus side, we're holidaying with my mother and sisters who will all, I suspect, enjoying reliving our childhood holidays (with less canvas and less rain) by playing with and designing outfits for the dress up dolls, so hopefully the effort won't be entirely wasted. Bring on the flight!

S Club 7 and the age question.

Last night some friends and I went to see S Club 7. *pauses to allow you to laugh*. Done?

It was a total nostalgia trip as s club were the soundtrack of our university days and have stayed with us via 14 years (eek!) of wedding receptions and nights out. We clearly weren't the only ones...it was a gig with a very specific age and gender profile.

Before we left we made the mistake of looking up the ages of the group members on Wikipedia - mistake because they range from 33-38, and feeling as though they are the same age as us gave me more empathy with them than I wanted to have. Because really, it wasn't great. The dancing was energetic-ish but you could almost see the effort it took to remember the steps...highlighted by the younger troupe of dancers who were there to do the energetic stuff. They played against a backdrop of the original videos which really just reminded us of how much older they are. And the middle of the show consisted of them taking it in turns to be onstage alone...a chance to showcase individuals, maybe, but you couldn't help but imagine the rest of them flaked out backstage, catching their breath.

I kind of wanted to be able to laugh at it...but I couldn't. Who, really, in their mid 30s, could replicate the pure springiness and exuberance of their late teens? Paul is famed for "getting down on the floor"...he didn't last night, but show me a 36 year old man who can do that with any credibility! ! I think when it came down to it, they put together a show which recognised that we're 14 years on from their heyday and made the most of it. I quite enjoyed the newly sedate Paul performing Reach with an acoustic guitar, and Jo's voice has got better with age. It made me think about how well we celebrate and make use of difference, in work and life generally. I think we spend a lot of energy on maintaining youth or trying to gain experience. ..perhaps we should focus more on recognising what individuals in their current stage and circumstance bring to life & work, and celebrate that rather than rushing forward or trying to reclaim the past. If, for S Club 7, that means outsourcing your energetic dancing and building tea breaks into your gig so you have the energy to pull off Don't Stop Movin' as the encore then fair play!

I'm off to listen to some cool contemporary music now to rebuild my credibility. Er...any recommendations?!

Today's sewing thoughts

this post will probably appeal to a very niche audience (possibly just me and my mother!), so feel free to stop reading if you have no interest in sewing!

I'm not a complete novice but have only really been sewing in earnest for a year or so. I started with soft toys, then toddler clothes, and have gradually worked up to clothes for myself. After a couple of successes with patterns in books for beginners (if you're thinking about sewing, start with Love at first stitch!), I'm working on a normal commercial pattern for the first time. It's been a bit stop start due to some sewing-when-tired which led to some unpicking-required, and thus to a hole in the fabric, more unpicking, and thankfully just enough fabric for a new bodice back!

However, tonight I've had a good couple of hours at it, made lots of progress and ended up with some random sewing observations.

1. A beer and sewing go together better than you'd think. But not more than one. Never more than one.
2. Moving the ironing board nearer to the sewing machine has significant impact on the length of my sewing concentration span.
3. There's a defining seam in every sewing project where it suddenly starts looking like the end product. There's still loads to do but you realise that you actually created what you intended. I hit that point tonight then promptly stopped (after trying it on of course) - quit on a high.
4. My habit of acquiring random haberdashery is totally justified by the fact that tonight I found that I accidentally owned the right bias binding to allow me to continue with the pattern. I feel vindicated.
5. Pattern instructions are all very well but common sense is important. I just had to read my pattern four or five times to confirm that it AT NO POINT tells you to sew the top and bottom of the dress together. Minor flaw...I have no intention of baring my midriff!
6. The zip and hem are still to do but I am Very Excited about wearing a dress that I've made myself.

Six is probably enough random sewing thoughts...I'll post a picture of it when it's finished! Congratulations if you made it this far...

Leadership lessons from Thomas the Tank Engine: Billy

Billy is a new orange train. Thomas the Tank Engine is asked to look after him and teach him what to do. Billy thinks Thomas is bossy and ignores him. Thomas keeps trying. Everything goes wrong...

As I read this book for the 3rd time in a row, I couldn't help but draw parallels with people management. There are a couple of lessons to draw out...

Context: the Fat Controller doesn't tell Billy that he's asked Thomas to show him what to do. Thomas doesn't explain this either, nor does he explain why Billy needs to do each task. Ordering someone to do something may achieve reluctant compliance but will rarely get them fully engaged with delivering a successful overall outcome. A bit of context, whether it is around the contribution to bigger picture, impact of success, or even why something needs to be done a particular way, can achieve a lot. And may end up reminding you why you do what you do too!

Adaptability: Thomas's approach clearly wasn't working but he kept trying, following Billy around giving him instructions, and irritating him more and more. If it isn't working, don't keep doing it! It's easy as managers to get locked into one mind set ("they just don't get it / won't do it" etc) and to lose sight of the possibility that there may be another point of view. If your team aren't responding in the way you expect take a step back, and think about whether there is another way to approach it, whether this is attitudinal (coaching vs directive), language (another way to explain), or, dare I say it, that your way is not the only right way! Separating the how from the outcome may help.

And finally...when delegating something as important as the induction of a new team member, make sure the person / train you delegate to has the necessary skills to engage and involve the newbie, so that no-one ends up under the hopper covered in coal - it'll save you time and money in the long run!

Being at target and the "sneaky extra"

After I last posted, I got a bit complacent and took 4 more weeks to lose those last few pounds. However, I did it, and amongst much ceremony (including a certificate AND a badge!) became a Slimming World target member.

After the excitement wore off, and my flurry of Facebook sharing eased off, I wasn't really sure what to do next. I read through the book I was given at group but it didn't say anything concrete - understandable, as everybody needs to find their own level, and there's no specific number of syns/healthy extras etc which will guarantee maintaining the same weight, but a bit disorientating after 7 months of following the Slimming World plan pretty rigidly!

The first week, I was super-strict and ended up losing half a pound. Oops.

The second week, I relaxed rather too much, and put half a pound on. Oops again.

The third week, I stopped relaxing but found that I was already back into naughty old habits, and had discovered a new food type - on top of Healthy Extras A & B, I introduced the "Sneaky Extra". This is any type of food, other than Free foods of course, which is eaten in a small enough quantity to enable you to kid yourself you're not eating it. For me, it's bits of the toddler's tea, a nibble of cheese while cooking, a bite of toast, a tiny piece of cake, a chocolate button from the fridge...etc. Added to a rather more relaxed approach to wine and the occasional dabble with white bread, I suddenly realised how easy it would be to slide (un)gracefully out of the Slimming World habits, and pile the weight back on!

Amongst this I've been running 3 times a week (and have got to the end of week 5 of couch to 5k - definitely recommend this to follow if you're thinking about taking up running) so goodness knows what weight I'd have put on without the exercise...

So - it'll have to be an end to the Sneaky Extra. There's a reason they aren't part of Food Optimising! I shall be back onto measuring the healthy extras and counting the syns until I work out what maintains an equilibrium, and am writing it down publicly to help motivate me to recognise and lose the habit. Apologies for using you as a confessional!

As a target member in our group said on the week I hit target - you have to remember that you can't have ALL the treats. A good lesson to learn!

I'm back!

Apparently it has been 7 months since I last wrote a blog post. Oops. 2014 wasn't the easiest year, and there was a lot going on which I couldn't blog about either for avoiding-professional-suicide reasons (changing jobs) or personal reasons (family bereavement). I don't think there's any point blogging if it's just to put a fake face on things, hence the long radio silence.

However - I'm back. For two reasons really - one, that I have had a post bubbling around in the back of my mind for weeks, and this seems to be the right time to write it; and two, writing is a really important part of me & what I do, and I miss it!

One thing I have been doing since the last blog post is losing weight. I didn't want to blog about that because, while people are interested in milestones etc, I didn't want to end up writing broadly the same content each week about losing or not losing a pound or 2. No issue with other people blogging in this way, I hasten to add, and in fact I read and enjoy many of them, but that level/frequency of sharing is not really my style.

So, in the middle of last year, I had a revolutionary few weeks. I applied for 2 jobs (and got one), and decided that I didn't, in fact, have to accept that I would never manage to lose weight. With much unwillingness and trepidation, I joined a local Slimming World group, and set myself a totally unachievable target so that I wouldn't have an excuse for stopping too early.



I am not a girly girl, and didn't expect to be comfortable in the Slimming World environment - after weigh-in, the "Image Therapy" group is where challenges and successes are discussed, and hints and tips given. If I'm honest, I still find some of the labels and language hard to take seriously (the word journey is very heavily used, which always makes me think of bad reality TV), but actually the concepts behind it are sound, and having a community of people who are trying to do the same thing, and are challenged/doing well at different times, is invaluable - I appreciate it so much more than I ever expected!

I also found the eating plan incredibly easy to follow, as it is not faddy, and revolves around principles which I really already knew, but wasn't really following well - eating lots of fruit and veg, choosing lean meats, and all other things in moderation. This meant that we were able, as a household, to eat in a diet friendly way, rather than me having to eat special food, or count every calorie I ate.

Having joined in July, I now find myself 4lbs off the "totally unachievable" target I set at the beginning, with 3st 4lbs lost so far. I would not have believed I could keep going for this long - and it genuinely is down to the accountability of a group, and being officially weighed, and the support that goes with that, as well as the straightforward nature of the plan. Whilst I am not actually at target, I feel broadly happy with how I look and feel so can see the end of the process in sight, hence blogging about it now!

There are really 3 things I wanted to say in this post:

1) I'm back - getting that difficult first-post-back out of the way so I don't feel under pressure to say anything meaningful next time!
2) I am not being sponsored to say this, but if you are considering losing weight, I wholeheartedly recommend Slimming World, for sensible eating principles, being realistic about having a life alongside a diet, support, achievableness (that's a word, right?), and providing a framework for keeping the weight off at the end.
3) Just to mark the near-end of a process which has somewhat dominated the last 7 months, here are a couple of photos. I appear to have largely avoided the camera since about 2011, so struggled to find a recent one, but here is a before and after.

Before:

Last weekend:

In real (rather than vanity-photo!) terms it means just over 3 dress sizes dropped, feeling so much fitter & healthier (without much exercise...that's the next project), standard knee high boots which fit round my legs, and clothes shopping being considerably more fun. Hooray for Slimming World! That is all.

**for those who are not interested in diets and my vanity, other topics will resume from my next post!**

Rare Pinterest Success - fuzzy felt dollshouse!

Having not really got Pinterest to start with, I've started finding it really inspiring in terms of getting me crafting. I'm really enjoying the process of seeing something online and working out how to make it.

So, a few weeks ago, I saw this beautiful set of fuzzy felt dress up dolls:

http://theprudenthomemakerblog.blogspot.co.uk/2012/12/a-gift-day-day-nineteen-felt-paper.html

This led me to the originator of the idea:

http://charlaanne.typepad.com/charlaanne/2012/05/made-with-love.html

She had also made a felt dollshouse to make it into a takealong toy.

I'm not going to go through my method step by step, as Charla Anne sells the pattern for this toy on Etsy, and I don't want to undermine her earning opportunity. However, I decided to have a crack at working it out for myself. I don't think the end result is quite as sophisticated as the original, but I'm pretty pleased with it, given that I drew the patterns freehand and figured out the method myself!

Rachel is desperate to get her hands on this but we have just wrapped it up for her friend's birthday today, so I am going to have to make another. Oh well!

This is what it looks like:

Cute, don't you think? I may love it a bit too much!

Slightly makes up for my previous stuffed elephant Pinterest fail which has ears sewn just above its tail. Oops!