A Modern Mother

Kate and her 90 women challenge

Kate on Thin Ice is absolutely shining in her new role at BritMums helping to connect bloggers with good causes.

Her latest endeavour is to get 90 women to write 90 words about Breakthrough Breast Cancer.

So, here goes...

My first memory is my mother, kissing my forehead and tucking me in bed. She has always been there. Though I live 5,000 miles away we can pick up the phone and chat about our day. Mainly she does the chatting, while I stir the bolognaise, check the spelling homework and run the bath water. She doesn’t mind my multi-tasking, I don’t think. In fact I can feel her each through the phone cable as she reminds me to stir the bolognaise, it might be burning, don’t you know.

(It's actually 89 words, but I think it should count).

 

 

On haggis and Burns Night

I love my Scottish husband. I would do anything for him. Give up my career, spend my days wiping dirty bottoms, make endless meals from morning 'till night.

But I absolutely, resolutely refuse to eat haggis.

Never will a forkful of that oatmeal/lamb innards mixture pass my lips. I don't care if it is a national dish. Or if my marriage depends on it. The thought of it makes my tummy turn.

I know this is not fair. I know that many people relish haggis, enjoy it even. Especially on the 25th of January, Burns Night, the birth date of the beloved Scottish poet Robbie Burns.

What happened to Susanna's shattered iPhone 4? Hint: Och Aye, the noo

I know you are just DYING to know what has happened to my little shattered iPhone 4 on her O2 Recycle journey. Well, here's the scoop. My little girl has made it to the remarketing centre in Scotland. She was inspected there, and because of her slight blemishes (OK, her entire glass back was shattered), they offered me £157.50 (down from the web site estimate £210). I thought about it for about a second and agreed.

Those Scots sure are fast. I already have the cheque!

So what exactly do you do with an old, shattered phone? Recycle of course!

Ever wonder what happens to old mobile phones? I didn't, until 02 called and asked if I had any to recycle. And then they said they could track the phone and see where it ended up.

Africa? Eastern Europe? Or most likely somewhere in the UK. I like the idea of the phone being gussied up, and given a new life, and not in a box in our attic gathering dust.

The Watt Loss Challenge

Disclosure: I'm working with British Gas on a project to help educate families about engery savings.

No, that is not a typo!

We're running the Watt Loss Challenge competition on the Smart Mums site -- all you have to do is post a pic about how you save engery in your home.

My entry is above. We use energy saving light bulbs throughout the house, I've been told that they last up to 10 times longer than ordinary bulbs, and using one can save you around £40 over the lifetime of the bulb.

You can get a pack of 4 from Amazon for only £2.15

If you need some energy saving tips, you can pick some up here.

What are you doing to save energy?

 

Christmas baking and Christmas past

My mother is visiting from California. When she is here, we always try to cram in as much as we can. However, our plans to go into London for one of the National Gallery's children's programmes were ruined when hubby was turned out to be. (BTW- have your tried the National Gallery programme yet? That's a whole other post). So we decided to stay home and bake!

Charity shop challenge: the scarf or the necklace?

Back at the charity shops again this weekend. I found this black M&S turtleneck (£5.99 at Oxfam). Plain, yes, but oh so versatile. But I can't decide. Do you like it with this tapestry scarf (£4.99 Oxfam)?

Charity shop bargains: My £5.99 shabby chic coat!

What can I say? I love bargains. They always go over well with Scottish hubby too. 

Do you care about women's football? You should

My quest to raise the profile of girls' football in the UK brought me to Wembley stadium on Sunday afternoon. It was an eerily foggy day - the famous Wembley arch nearly invisible though I could sense it towering overhead.

The stadium was filled with about 200 youths, there for an once-in-a-lifetime afternoon of celeb coaching sponsored by McDonalds. Pat Jennings was teaching a group of boys in green striped jerseys how to use their body to be more effective goalies. Oh, look there's Geoff Hurst (yes, he's still around). Andrew Cole was helping a group perfect passing. Gareth Southgate (ooh, he's cute) strode by and stopped to instruct a group of girls.

The Kodak Christmas Photo Craft Challenge

I am working on a project with Kodak through BritMums to help get the word out about Christmas crafts -- using photos!

I'd like to create a simple Christmas card, and I've found the perfect image! Looking through my iPhone, I found this photo I took last year, right after one of the big snows in December. As we were walking with our sldges, this old fashioned automobile turned the corner, and it just looked a bit sureal.

Anyway, here's the photo:

I thought I could antique it with an app, and then put into a card.

Can anyone recommend a good holiday card template?