Monday's Moment of Wisdom - Pearl Number 16

"A woman has got to love a bad man once or twice in her life, to be thankful for a good one." - Marjorie Kinnan

And boy have I loved a few bad ones, but I won't go in to that, it's just the usual story of falling for Mr Wrong and accepting second best and letting myself being treated like poo instead of enjoying my life while waiting for Mr Right! Anyway the good news is I have him now and I am so thankful for this stubborn yet generous and caring man.

I am thankful for his kindness
I am thankful for devotion
I am thankful for commitment to me and his daughter
I am thankful for the way he wants to get so involved with every detail of her life
I am thankful for the hard work he does to make our lives better
And I am thankful for his awesome Chicken tikkas!!

I am thankful also for a hundred other things he is and can do and will be in my life, he is always by my side, coming through when I need him the most and delightfully surprising me in so many different ways, he is one of the good ones and I found him, for that I am so thankful!

A little something for the weekend...............

Now that we finally have some good weather, I have been trying to soak up some vitamin D and find other ways to enjoy the sun and feel good too. I have been reading up on Omega 3 oils a lot and finding out that they are really good for boosting mood and helping with depression.

 Omega 3 is a polyunsaturated fat which means it's a good one and a lack of it in our bodies can really effect how we function. The cells in our bodies are protected by a cell membrane that allows the cells to work at their best, these membranes are made of fat and by putting healthy fats, like Omega 3 in to our bodies instead of unhealthy fats we are helping to minimise any damage and ensure they keep on going and help fight off any nasty diseases, reduce inflammation and help brain function.

 One of the many symptoms of Omega 3 deficiency is low mood and depression along with dry skin and lack of sleep to name but a few. So in my quest to look after and maintain my mental health to a level where myself and everyone around me can live a fairly harmonious life I decided to up my intake of these essential fatty acids (EFA) and started to include more of the food that contained them in my diet this week like tuna and salmon.

 I was surprised and pleased to find out that Strawberries were a non-fish source of Omega 3. They are no where near as high as fish sources but still had significant levels, so with my creative hat on and feeling hot a bothered at the same time I decided to kill one bird with two stones and came up with this.....

I used some mint from the garden and oranges for a vitamin C boost and lemon for its detoxing properties, plus all the flavours combined together is a nice way to liven up any drink and the ice makes it sooo refreshing while enjoying the warm, lazy summer evenings, enjoy!

Monday's Moment of Wisdom - Pearl Number 15

"Forget about the fast lane. If you really want to fly, just harness your power to your passion." - Oprah

This week I have learned to be myself again and it feels soooo good! See for a while now I haven't been me, I haven't been person I knew and had grown to love. I had been a shadow of my former self and it wasn't pretty, even my OH said I I had become someone he did recognise anymore, it was and has been a sad time...

But we have stuck together and with his amazing support and little bit more coming from some other lovely people around me I have been soldiering on. I have talked about my dark times a few times now so am not going to bore very one with the details of how I felt but instead share how I got happy instead!

If I could symbolise how I felt this week I would sum it up as a pheonix, rising up from the misery of my ashes. It was so simple really all had to do was put all my thought and focus in to one thing, I would manage one thing only and when I could deal with that I would move on to something else.

To cut a long story short I have spent the past couple of weeks just thinking a bout food, this may sound funny but it was something I could control so I started weight watchers, planned menus, shopped for food and exercised, apart from taking care of the baby this has been my main thing, and it has worked! A few pounds lost has been enough to motivate me, inspire me and raise me up, by the end of last week I felt almost like me again and have started resume my normal activities, smile have fun and feel like I'm somebody again, somebody I want to be!

Learning to take things one step at a time and put down all my balls and pick up only one has helped me to discover me again, I learnt its not about having a busy, wonderful, eventful life that makes me successful, it believing I have the power to be great at being just me, that is where I will make a difference and that's what will make me truly successful!

Monday's Moment of Wisdon - Pearl Number 14

When we do the best we can, we never know what miracle is wrought in our life, or in the life of another. – Helen Keller.

Yesterday we took LC swimming, we hadn't taken her for such a long time and wanted her to start building her confidence in the pool before our holiday in the sun next month.

At first she freaked out a little and didn't like it, we were trying our best to make it fun but she was unsure. We had been in the pool for about five minutes when another mum got in with her small baby, we said to LC "look at the baby she is having fun, she's not crying" LC looked and the baby's mum asked us about LC and we got talking.

An hour later LC was having fun with daddy I had spent time chatting away and got to know the baby and her mum, LC had relaxed a bit because I had and was splashing around waving at us as we talked and I cooed over the 7 month old baby and LC's daddy joined in at random points as the swam past us and played.

We had lots in common, neither of us was from this area and used to live near each others towns up north, both first time mums and funnily or weirdly (depends which way you want to look at it!) had both name our daughters after different characters from the same TV show (I know I'm sad naming her from a show!).

Soon it was time to get our babies out and go but before we said goodbye the mum I had blabbered away with for the last hour asked if I wanted to meet for coffee which I was very happy to do, we exchanged details (good old facebook!) and went on our way saying how we hope to see each other soon!

This encounter made me think about how things like chance meetings, random acts of kindness and just taking life by the reins impacts not just my life but the others involved and how, if I try my best, give all I can and do let myself be who I want to be I can change my life and others around me for the better!

What a powerful and uplifting thought! So this week when I know so many special people who mean a lot to me are going to go through the highs and lows of life I am going to do everything I can to go through this with them and be my best so that I can change my life and hopefully make a meaningful and positive change in theirs!

Here is a little person who always makes a positive impact on my life!