Words of Wisdom - 31/1

Finally! Today is the last day of my daily Words of Wisdom. Phew! I can't believe that I actually succeed to post the WOW every single day. I have to admit that it worked. At the end of each day I was looking forward to come home and write it. Writing it brought achievement and happiness at the end of every day. True sometimes my Words of Wisdom were kind of sad...but well life has its sad moments to isn't it?
I will continue to write this but it will mostly be a weekly thing. I think it will be a Sunday or Monday thing. Will keep you posted.
Hope you enjoyed reading my WOW and if you think that I should continue with this as a daily thing would really appreciate if you could let me know.
My words of wisdom for today are by Albert Einstein:

“Learn from yesterday, live for today, hope for tomorrow.”


I'm sorry there is no picture today. Posting from my phone and I don't even have 3G :(

Coconut and oats cookies

I found this recipe in one of the books that I bought over the years. It is very simple and I should say quite healthy. The book doesn't have an author is just a collection of recipes. I should probably mention that the book is from a charity shop.
Ingredients:
1¼ all purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon soda
½ cup granulated sugar
½ cup brown sugar
½ cup butter (or margarine)
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup uncooked oats
1 cup flaked or shredded coconut

Place flour, baking powder, soda and salt into a bowl a mix together. Add sugar, brown sugar, butter, egg and vanilla and beat until smoot. Stir in oats and coconut.
Shape to form 1-inch cookies and place them on greased cooking sheets. Bake in preheated oven (180 degrees) for 12 – 15 minutes. Remove from oven and allow cool.

And here it is how lovely the cookies look:

Words of Wisdom - 30/1

Never thought that this Words of wisdom will became something I am looking forward to write at the end of the day. Every day I am keen to write what I learn from that day.
Today is about mistakes. Making mistakes is the only thing we can't help doing because we are just human. We make mistakes because we try. We make mistakes because simply we live.

God knows I always make mistakes! Sometimes big cock up ones and sometimes little ones. Of course the big ones are the ones that affect our lives unfortunately! But what can we do? If one stops making mistakes then it means we stop living. It's basically impossible to make everybody happy in our life.

I found for you the below quotes. I hope you like them:


“We are all mistaken sometimes; sometimes we do wrong things, things that have bad consequences. But it does not mean we are evil, or that we cannot be trusted ever afterward.”
Alison Croggon


“We all make mistakes, have struggles, and even regret things in our past. But you are not your mistakes, you are not your struggles, and you are here NOW with the power to shape your day and your future.”
Steve Maraboli, Life, the Truth, and Being Free

And now as usual something funny for you:

Cherry on the top Award!!!

My dear friend and blogger Claire nominated me for this "Cherry on the top Award". It is a very cute and nice idea actually. Claire is a lovely blogger that is writting the Mummy of many talents  blog and A boy with Aspergers blog. I met her only a couple of months ago but we've become buddies and connected from our first chat. This is why i am accepting this award.

The rules for accepting the award are:

• Thank the blogger who nominated you - Thank you my dear Claire!
• List three things you love about yourself (geeh...this is a difficult one for me): 

1. I love the fact that through blogging i managed to make so many nice and supportive friends;
2. I love that i have such a beautiful and intelligent daughter;
3. I love that despite my depression my husband stands by me and never gives up on me.

• I must post a picture i LOVE - this is a picture with my daughter when she was only two months old - she looked so innocent and cute then!i just adore the picture!

• I must nominate or pass this award to 5 bloggers. So here is my list of fantastic bloggers:

1. I want my mummy
2. Lisa Gusto
3. Mum2babyinsomniac
4. http://justaboveaveragemum.wordpress.com/ on twiter as @Notsoslummy
5. Fromfuntomum

My take on Foccacia

This Saturday I decided to try and cook Foccacia. Now you my Italians friends out there don't judge my take on it. I found the recipe in one of the newspapers that I am reading - can't even remember which one. I just wrote he recipe in one of my diaries and I just thought that Saturday will be the day when I will just try it.

So here is what you need:
- 7 g. Dry yeast
- 500 g. Flour
- 2 tbsp. salt
- 250 ml. Warm water
- 6 tbsp. olive oil
- 1 tbsp or more of dried thyme

Preparation is very easy. All you have to do is to mix all the dried ingredients: the flour,dried yeast and the 1/2 spoon of salt and then add the warm water bit by bit until all is incorporated. After add 4 tablespoons of olive oil and mix well. You can add some more water if you wish but my dough was perfect with these quantities. Kneed the dough for about 10 minutes and then roll it out in a round shape. Well it depends what kind of baking tray you have. I used a pizza baking tray - this has halls in it. I think I bought it from Sainsbury. Anyway after you roll it out put it in the pan and covert with cling film. You need to let it rise in a warm place. I put it next to the radiator for example.
When you think the dough raised enough then puncture the dough with your finger from place to place.

Sprinkle the remaining salt and olive oil all over the dough. I actually added more oil as it seem to dry to me.

After you add the thyme as well put the Foccacia in a hot oven at 190 Celsius for about 10 minutes or so. Depends how well done you like it.

And after then minutes there you have it. Ta-da!!!

Here is my daughter trying to help mummy kneading:

Words of Wisdom - 29/1

The bad thing about depression is that most of the time you feel like a failure.
Your child has a tantrum you feel like a failure. Your child wets himself you feel like a failure. Your husband annoys you and again you feel like a failure.
I talk about myself now and I'm not sure if it's the same for you. Every day and every single thing that I am trying to do feels like a struggle. At the end of the day I feel really tired and like a failure because it feels like I didn't accomplish anything.

But every time I am trying to remember that


“There are no failures - just experiences and your reactions to them.”
Tom Krause

My new Family - Love all Blogs

Some of you might know already that i now am part of the Love all Blogs Family. Lovely Annie known by the online world as Mammasaurus let me be part of it. I am so very grateful as i met some more fantastic mummy and daddy bloggers since then. I do feel like it is my online family too.

Who would've thought that when i start blogging. I meet my blogging friends more than i meet my life met friends. I speak with blogging friends more than i speak with my life met friends. But it makes me happy. Very happy. I am writing the weekly intro for the Love Music Category and every week i find it is like a big challenge. I am not the best writer especially because i am not writing in my first language and i always have the fear that i am saying something wrong or that my writing is not good enough. Unfortunately "check spelling"can't fix someones incapability too write.

Here is my new family and the lovely bloggers that are part of it:

• Love all Blogs mother Annie from Mammasaurus;
• Love Mummy - Helen from  http://www.actuallymummy.co.uk/
• Love Mental Health - Clara from http://iwantmymummy.co.uk/
• Love Humour - Fran from http://motherventing.wordpress.com/ and http://flossingthecat.blogspot.com/
• Love Beauty - Maria Jose from http://www.verybusymamablog.com/
• Love Books - Rhiannon at http://ahellofawoman.blogspot.com/
• Love Businesses - Helen from http://kiddycharts.co.uk/
• Love Charity - Michelle from Mummy from the heart
• Love Cookery - Emily from http://www.amummytoo.co.uk/
• Love Craft - Mary from http://keynko.blogspot.com/ and Maggy from http://redtedart.co.uk/
• Love Dad - written by the Stay at home Dad and Proud
• Love Education - Rebecca from Here come the girls
• Love Expats - Aisha from Expatlogue
• Love Fashion - Liz from http://margot-and-barbara.com/
• Love Fitness - Claire from At least daddy can cook
• Love Health - Jenny from http://cheetahsinmyshoes.wordpress.com/
• Love Lifestyle - Rachel from http://maidinyorkshire.wordpress.com/
• Love New - Misha from http://www.theblingbuoy.com/
• Love Photo - Lucy from http://www.dearbeautifulboy.com/
• Love Politics - Cat from Political Mummy and Yellow Days
• Love Pregnacy - Shareen from http://arealmummydiary.wordpress.com/
• Love Relantionships - Jess from Mum2babyinsomniac and The perfect romance experiment
• Love Reviews - Sally from http://www.whosthemummy.co.uk/ and the mother of Tots 100
• Love Special Needs - http://looking4bluesky.blogspot.com/
• Love Tech - my hubby Adrian from http://thevoicefromtheabyss.blogspot.com/ and Tania from http://specialneedsjungle.com/
• Love Travel - A Bavarian Sojourn and Marianne from Maris World
• Ask a geek - Sian from Geek is the new chic
• Love Music - me 

As you can see Love all Blogs has everything for everybody. You can submit your old or your new post as well. The only rule is to submit one post per category and you can't submit the same blog to more than one category.

On top of the above Annie created the Love all blogs community website. Here you can be part of the TALK. All the categories above have their own group so you can chat with your fellow bloggers. You can be part of the community only if you are a blogger too. There is even a chat room too!

Share the Blog Love!

WOW - 28/1

Not sure today is a wisdom day. It was quite of dull with nothing interesting happening and with me and hubby ended up fighting! It seems like this happens every damn weekend now!

I have a few words for you though:

Keep it real and don't try to fool yourself.

Now just for a laugh here is a funny cartoon about arguments:

Satcap day!!!!

You all know by now that saturday is Satcap Day! The day we all post funny pictures and then link them over at Mammasaurus. Here is my entry:

Now if you feel like it leave us a caption. 

For more funny pictures go over Mammasaurus link.

Happy Saturday!

Life in London by FrenchYummyMummy

This week saturday guest post came my way from the lovely Muriel that blogs over at  www.FrenchYummyMummy.com. Muriel is a lovely and bubbly lady. Go over and visit her blog too and i will bet her quirky way will put a smile on your face. She can be found on twitter to as @frenchyummymummy. 

Here is her take on Life in London:

I moved to London 8 years ago. Basically, this means that I am not French any longer, because whenever I go back I don't fit in. For starters, everybody is sulking there. Not nice.

But I am not British yet. I might get a British passport eventually, but, let's not kid ourselves here, I will never truly be British, which can be a bit frustrating sometimes. That said, on the whole, I am much happier here. Something to do with having to go outside of my comfort zone and do new stuff, such as working in English and setting up my own business.

To cut a long story short, when we moved to London 8 years ago I had a choice: I could change husband or change job. I changed job and could have become depressed, bitter and twisted because the new job was not very interesting. But I didn't. In London, I started to mingle with lots of interesting people of all nationalities and I realised that there were many ways to be happy. And -shock horror! - some don't involve climbing up the Corporate ladder. So I resigned and set up my business. I haven't looked back ever since. In fact, I think that I wasn't cut out for the Corporate world and, funnily enough, moving to London made me realise it.

And let's be honest here: living in London is simply liberating. In Paris, I was always on a diet because all my friends were so skinny that I felt guilty to love food as much as I do (especially chocolate and olive oil...). Well, over here, I feel thin (relatively speaking of course) and I enjoy my food and therefore my life a lot more. Furthermore, In Paris, all women have to wear some make-up to go to work. It is an unwritten social rule. Well, not in London. I can go out with bags under my eyes. And I also can go to the corner shop in my PJs and no-one will mutter a word. How cool is this?

There is also something about my strong French accent that the Brits love. Even as I am dangerously nearing 40, British men occasionally ask me whether I know them from somewhere. Who said the Brits were stuck-up? Occasionally, I get hit on. It's something to do with being French. Apparently it gives an aura of sexiness. I didn't do anything special for it but hey, let's see whether it lasts until I am 80. I doubt it very much but you never know.

Of course, we struggled with the schools and the NHS. But you have got to love London in spite of everything: nice parks, lovely museums, and a certain sense of humour that, over time, I learned to love ( it was a long process though ...).

In short, I don't believe that we will go back to France. We love our life here way too much!

Don't forger to leave a lovely comment. Muriel and I would love to read your comments:

WOW - 27/1

Tonight daddy is working late so my daughter and I had the opportunity to spend time together. I mean just the two of us. You see she is "daddy's girl" and she loves spending time with daddy. I usually get a quick cuddle when i get back from work and a big one only and only when she is really ill. 

I think all the kids prefer to spend time with their mothers when they are ill.

So tonight we cooked together and cuddle while watching Peppa Pig. It was really nice.

Always make sure you spend time with your children.

Here is my quote for the day:

“To be in your children’s memories tomorrow, you have to be in their lives today”
- Anonymous

Here is one picture with my little girl and daddy!

My boogie makes me laugh!!!

Sometimes i can't believe how fast the time is passing. My daughter is almost 3 years old and every day she makes me laugh and cringe. I love her to bits but her tantrums are sometimes out of proportion.

However she has moments when she just makes us laugh.

You see she loves being centre of attention! She is like a little "diva"!

Seriously i have no idea where she takes that from. I am very practical when it comes to clothing and 90% of the year i don't bother putting make up on. But she is my opposite. She loves dressesing up and shiny shoes! And she likes to talk a lot! When my hubby and I talk she wants to say something as well. Of course we let her. However the other night we were discussing something quite important and to attract our attention she said to me:

"Mrs...can you please show me this? Mrs..."

Where did she hear that and why is she calling me Mrs? We start laughing and she said it again smilling:

"Mrs.."

Obviously she heard my husband calling me Mrs sometimes and now she was repeating it.

So funny! Of course we then said we will discuss whatever we had too later that evening after boogie will go to bed. 

Do you think that is wrong? To just give your fully attention to your child when they require even that will mean to stop your chat or phone conversation?

Hm..i wonder if that means we spoil her to much!

Words of Wisdom - 26/1

A quick one for you all today about the balance between optimism and pesimism. 

I love Oscar Wilde and this gives me the opportunity to share a quote from him:

Between the optimist and the pessimist, the difference is droll. The optimist sees the doughnut; the pessimist the hole!
~ Oscar Wilde

WOW - 25/1 and mum

I had a funny day today. I'm quite happy and feeling really light and so on...I feel like I'm floating.
Maybe is because of the Thinking Slimmer or maybe is because I make my mother happy today.
You see today is my mums birthday. When I was in Romania I use to travel home to spend the day with her. But now I am miles and miles away and as I've not been very cheery this last couple of months and really didn't call home very much either...so I really wanted to make my mum happy today. I wanted her to know that I love her and that I care even though I live miles and miles away.
So I sent her flowers,champagne and Roche chocolate while she was at work. Damn expensive but as you can imagine she was overwhelmed. When I spoke on the phone with her she said that she cried. Oh bless her! I just wish I could give her a big hug from me today!

My words of wisdom (and I'm sorry if I am repeating myself):

Make someone you love happy - a phone call, a gesture or a flower - they will really appreciate it because they love you too!

This is a picture with my mum - Aurelia!
La multi ani mama!

Guide for living healthy

One of my dear friends - which i will not mention - OK let's say Miss D. - send me this fantastic list with tips about living healthy. She is the most healthy and fit person i know so read this:

Health: 

1.     Drink plenty of water.

2.     Eat breakfast like a king, lunch like a prince and dinner like a beggar.

3.     Eat more foods that grow ON trees and plants and eat less food that is manufactured IN plants..

4.     Live with the 3 E's -- Energy, Enthusiasm and Empathy.

5.     Make time to pray.

6.     Play more games

7.     Read more books than you did in 2011 .

8.     Sit in silence for at least 10 minutes each day

9.     Sleep at least 7 hours..

10. Take a 10-30 minute walk daily.  And while you walk, smile.

Personality: 

11. Don't compare your life to others. You have no idea what their journey is all about.

12. Don't have negative thoughts on things you cannot control. Instead invest your energy in the positive present moment.

13. Don't over do.  Keep your limits.

14. Don't take yourself so seriously.  No one else does.

15. Don't waste your precious energy on gossip.

16. Dream more while you are awake.

17. Envy is a waste of time.  You already have all you need.

18. Forget issues of the past.  Don't remind your partner of his/her mistakes in the past, that will ruin your present happiness.

19. Life is too short to waste time hating anyone.  Don't hate others.

20. Make peace with your past so it won't spoil the present.

21. No one is in charge of your happiness except you.

22. Realise that life is a school and you are here to learn.  Problems are simply part of the curriculum that appear and fade away but the lessons you learn will last a lifetime.

23. Smile and laugh more.

24. You don't have to win every argument.  Agree to disagree...

Society:
 

25. Call your family often.

26. Each day give something good to others.

27. Forgive everyone for everything.

28. Spend time with people over the age of 70, and under the age of 6.

29. Try to make at least three people smile each day.

30. What other people think of you is none of your business.

31. Your job won't take care of you when you are sick.  Your friends will.  Stay in touch.

Life:
 

32. Do the right thing in or at  the right place!

33. Get rid of anything that isn't useful, beautiful, or joyful..

34. GOD heals everything.

35. However good or bad a situation is, it will change.

36. No matter how you feel, get up, dress up, and show up.

37. The best is yet to come...

38. When you awake alive in the morning, thank GOD for it.

39. Your Inner most is always happy. So, be happy. 

Last but not the least:

40. Consider forwarding this guide to those you care about.

As i care deeply about my readers i thought this will helpful to you too. These ideas are not mine and please don't blame me for copying her.

HAPPY NEW YEAR 2012

Words of Wisdom - 24/1

Tonight will be my fourth night with Trevor. Even though I didn't noticed any major changes today I noticed that I stopped thinking about food all the time. Before after every single meal I use to think at what I would like to eat next. So this is a good thing.

Anyhow I have some quotes about fat that I would like to share with you.

Hope they will make you laugh:


Being fat isn't so bad.. fat people are harder to kidnap!!
Unknown quotes



I have a great diet. You're allowed to eat anything you want, but you must eat it with naked fat people.
Ed Bluestone


Inside every fat person there's a thin person looking to get out --
They've just eaten them
Jo Brand

Please God make Thinkingslimmer work!

Words of Wisdom - 23/1

I'm kind of sad right now...I was happier earlier but now I am sad?!!? I'm not even sure of my feelings sometimes. The today's Words of Wisdom are about depression. It's more something that someone said rather than a quote. So the Words of Wisdom or not are:



“Depression is the most unpleasant thing I have ever experienced. . . . It is that absence of being able to envisage that you will ever be cheerful again. The absence of hope. That very deadened feeling, which is so very different from feeling sad. Sad hurts but it's a healthy feeling. It is a necessary thing to feel. Depression is very different.”
― J.K. Rowling

Words of Wisdom - 22/1

Hope you all had a nice weekend! I'm not going to write very much today so I will just go straight to my Words of Wisdom for today:

"Sometimes a sweet treat can brighten even the worst of the days"


It definitely worked for me!

Words of Wisdom - 21/1

Today I received in the post the Thinking slimmer - Slimpod plus 14. So tonight I will go to sleep with Trevor and his Drop to Jeans Sizes Slimpod!
I rather excited! I spent the last hour or so completing my Handbook and reading the Thinking Slimmer website. There are so many stories there of mummy bloggers that lost weight losing the Slimpod! I have to say that I am a bit...maybe more than a bit sceptic about this whole listening and slimming thing.
However I do hope is going to work!

At the moment I weigh 16st and usually wear size 16-18 clothes.
I am hoping that using this method will help me drop a couple of stones and wear size 12-14 clothes! Here is me dreaming...
I really hope is going to work but the fact that I'm actually Romanian and English is not my 1st language makes me feel even more worried that this method will not work! Will have to wait and see!


Every little change for the better can make you a better person.

Be the change you want to see in the world.
Mahatma Gandhi


One thing I had to do tonight is to write my goals. So I will share my goals with you as well:
1. To exercise once a week.
2. To drop 10 pounds in 10 weeks.
3. To fit in size 14 jeans.


I know it might sound a bit extreme...hm...well this is what I hope for so hopefully it will happen.
Below you can see a picture with me now:

Saturday is caption day 21/1

Here is my entry for today's #Satcap:

Don't forget to visit Mammasaurus Blog to check out the rest of the entries.
Chin chin!

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Life in UK by Lisa Gusto

Today is the first day of the guest posts about Life in UK. I am very excited about sharing with you all the posts that I received from fellow mummy bloggers.
The wonderful Lisa Gusto agreed to write the first post about her Life experience in UK. She moved here from Sweden and blogs about life,cooking and she gives some really great tips about beauty. Check out her blog and her Twitter page.


I moved to London from Stockholm (Sweden) 18 years ago and I’m still as in love with the greatest city on the planet as when I first came here in the early 90’s.
For me London is freedom.
This is where I came to re-invent myself without the restraints of the past, and also to grow up and have a family.
If I would move my whole life back to Sweden (horrible thought!), now that I have a man and two boys, my life would be so much easier though.
Apart from having the grandparents as babysitters on tap, my shoe collection would be extensive and I would just have come back from a resting holiday on Bora Bora J
It’s all because the Swedish government is supporting families with kids and a mortgage in a way parents in the UK can only dream of!
Big warning!
If you don’t want to cry with envy at the unfairness of being a parent in the UK don’t read any further.
And if you’re pally with David Cameron you might want to give him a hint of what his Swedish counterpart is doing for families... Read and weep!

The maternity leave is 1 year with 80% of your salary and you can space it out for how long you want.
Paternity leave is 3 month of this & it’s lost forever if you don’t take it.
Needless to say ALL dads take advantage of this!!

A nursery place is made available for all children at the age of 1.5.
Opening hours are tailor-made to suit full time working parents.
There are also Night Nurseries available if you work nights.
And the cost? £111 a month!! No I did not forget a zero at the end!
The cost is the same for everyone.
If your child is sick you get 80% of your salary for as long as your child is ill.
There’s absolutely no need to fork out on private education. Schools are good and everyone attends the local government run school.
When school is out around 2-ish the kids head off to Fritids it’s like an afterschool club.
There you can pick your child up after work.
This will set you back £60 a month.
Do I need to say that all my female friends in Sweden work?

Obviously university is free. Actually the government hand out around £186 a month to students.
Now over to what the government does to help you with the burden of keeping house:
House work, cleaning, decorating, repairs and maintenance is tax deductable!! You are allocated £4663 per adult in a household per year.
And read and weep!!!
30 % of your interest on loans is also tax deductable!
For example: Say you borrow £500000 your interest rate is 5% i.e. £25.000 a year, then the government will subsidize 30% of that cost. It’s offset against your tax.
And the tax system is not that bad either I would pay exactly the same amount of tax on my income in Sweden as I do herein the UK.
I’m not saying Sweden is utopia when you have a family but it certainly makes life a hell of a lot easier!
Would I move back for less financial stress and a larger shoe collection? Not in a million years!!!


What do you think? If you would like to write a guest post too please let me know by emailing me at otilia@romanianmum.com or tweet me - @romanianmum.
If you already have a post that describes your life experience in UK or in any way describes life as an expat please link here. Would love to read your posts.

What being fat means for me...

Well I now know and I'm not longer denying, I know now that I'm a fat person. So I'm going to share with you what being fat means for me:
- that I cannot wear the clothes I wish I could-skinny jeans,short tops you name it! Whatever I wear I feel uncomfortable wearing!
- I hate my own reflection! I hate looking in the mirror because all I can see is this round thing I don't know anymore!
- I hate that I can't wear heals anymore! Weigh too much and can't walk properly!
- the fact that I have to wear high waisted underwear-you see the bulge that is belly is just hanging!
- I fear to go out for a meal because I always fear that people will judge what I eat;
- people always assume that I'm on a diet if refuse the desert or say I'm not hungry!
- my back hurts most days!
- people assuming that I'm a couch potato just because I'm fat;

What people don't know is that every day is a struggle for me. That I hate myself because I don't have the power to be on a diet! Been on several diets - you name me! I tried everything! But every time someone , somewhere ever says something to me that remotely touches my feelings in a hurtful way, I'm back on the binging! When I'm upset I will just eat whatever just ti stop my feelings of hurt! Is like a burning thing inside that will not stop! It's hard to admit that I'm the person I am. But I am and this time I'm going to try again and change myself!
This time, I guess,it will be the easiest thing I ever had to do to lose weight.
This time I will just use the wonderful Slimpod! It's a recording on a CD that I will receive by post next week. What will I do with it? Obviously I will just have to listen to it. Supposely it will change the way I think about food and exercise. There are a couple of bloggers out there that actually lost weight with it so it must work. But will it work for me? I don't know...
I know one thing for sure though...I need to give it a try. Will see...And maybe being FAT will stop! Hahahaha

Words of Wisdom - 20/1

Going out tonight! I didn't think i will but thanks to Fran from From Fun to Mum she accepted me on her get around on the last minute.Yiiipeee!!!
So for today I have just a few Words of Wisdom tonight for you all. Words that hopefully i will follow:


I feel sorry for people who don't drink. When they wake up in the morning, that's as good as they're going to feel all day." - Frank Sinatra

The nursery and their freaking rules!!!

I'm pissed with my nursery again! The nursery where I take my daughter since she was 9 months old I mean!
Why are their rules so freaking stupid?
I will tell you why I'm saying this.
The nursery starts at 8am and finishes at 6pm. I pay the nursery for my daughter from 8 to 6 too!
However I am not able to drop my daughter before 8.00. Well let me explain...the door is locked until 8. I can only go in from 8 and it's a nightmare then because their like a queue of people and children waiting at the door to drop their kids. So I actually leave the nursery at 8.15. By then I'm already late for work of course as I am suppose to start work at 9am! I start half an hour earlier than everybody else to be able to leave at 5pm from work. I only have half an hour break - again half an hour less than anybody else in the company. But that doesn't bother me!
What bothers me is something else!
Roughly it takes me around 45-60 min to commute in and out from work. So if I leave work at 5pm then I should be at nursery by 6pm. But sometimes this just doesn't work! You know how unreliable underground can be especially in rush hour! So....if I'm really late then my husband has to leave work early to pick boogie up or I will just be late. But hear this: if you are late, after they charge you with 5£ for every 10 min. So i say how dare they? They expect the parents to pick their children between 5.30-6 pm.
Because of this the days when I have to pick my daughter from nursery the half an hour lunch break is scrapped and I leave work at 4.30 pm. I mean I'm lucky as I've been working for the same company for the last 5 years and they know me very well.
As my daughter start nursery at 9 months old, my struggle with the rules of the nursery is not new at all but I think now I'm fed up! For the past two years I've been in a rush! Argh!!!

So then I ask - Are all the nurseries out there the same? Or is it just mine that's so unreliable? Is it me that doesn't understand the rules? Or maybe my work schedule should be more flexible? Who's fault is it here? Maybe it's mine! Maybe I should just be a stay at home mum??
Please tell me if you have a nursery that is the same! Please tell me that you have to do the same as me! Please tell me that you have to rush like me! Maybe like this I will not feel so....ALONE!

WOW 19/1

Today I've done something just for me! Today I bought Slimpod Plus 14 CD. I am so happy! I know I should've done it before but just didn't find the power in me somehow. It's like I was afraid of the change???
But after reading so many blog post from other mums that tried it then I said this might be my chance to be me again!

So the words of wisdom for today are not coming from a book:

Take a step to change your life in better. You will feel little better about yourself.

WOW - 18/1

Middle of the week already. Why is the time passing so fast? Today...i experienced more tantrums from my daughter,really busy commuting and really busy at work. 

Life seems sometimes composed from work and sleep and that is about it.

Today i learned that when getting annoyed or angry to seat back and count up to 10 works. Ah..and taking big deep breathes as well!

So here are my Words of Wisdom for today:

Smile, breathe and go slowly.  ~Thich Nhat Hanh

Breathe.  Let go.  And remind yourself that this very moment is the only one you know you have for sure.  ~Oprah Winfrey

Better

Do you know the song "Better" sang by Boyzone? I love the song! I think that it describes very well the relationship that my husband and I have right now.
The fall in love time is long past-around 5-6 years ago it was a different deal. We didn't have kids or responsibilities. I was only 24 years old,I had a job that was paying my bills and that's about it. We were together but unsure of how our future will look like. And we didn't worry too much either. He was on a break living in a foreign country with his mates. I was young and aspiring to a fulfilling career in human resources.
Soon I realised that my life and career wouldn't mean a lot if I had to spend my life without him.
He had to go back to his country and work so then we realised that living apart didn't work we had to be together.
We worked on that ;) soon enough we got married and i moved in with him in London. I never thought that I will ever gave up myself for a man! But I did and I don't regret it.
We've now been married 5 years and have a beautiful and smart daughter that makes us smile every day.
Life is not always perfect - hence my postnatal depression - but in some ways is better. We know each other very well. We know what to aspect from each other and even we have our misunderstandings and fights, we love each other more. It's better! I love the fact that whenever I'm sad or happy I have my husband there to share it. I'm happy that I sacrificed my so said career in human resources for the life I have now.
We might not have as much as other couples(material things i mean) but we are happy. And everyday we are better.
Our love has changed...but it feels that it change in better. We make things better for each other and every day feels better because we gave someone we love to share it with.

Chicken roast and rice a la slow cooker

We all like roasted chicken don't we? Yes I love it too! But when you are trying to lose weight and be healthy a roasted chicken in the oven might not be helpful.
So in my way to try and cook healthy and quickly prepare without having to be at home is always to turn to my slow cooker. It is true even if I bought it about 5 years ago I didn't really cooked enough using the slow cooker.
So when hubby comeback home from Sainsbury with a chicken I thought I should use my slow cooker to roast it.
Preparing it didn't take very long.
All I had to do is take the package off,give the chicken a wash and then put it in the slow cooker.
Add a cup of water and a bit of stock powder,pepper and salt.
Then I covered it, put it on high and left it on HIGH for 4 hours.
In the meantime my family and I went to the park with hubby and boogie.
Now I'm going to apologise as I don't have a picture with the full roasted chicken because hubby and I went all excited and started pinching on it!

Chicken was not very crispy but...the meat was actually falling from the bone! And when you cooking it in the slow cooker I can guarantee that chicken will not be dry! It is actually very juicy!
When back from the park I took out the chicken and replace it with a cup of rice. You see the juicy left in the pan is very good for cooking a fluffy rice in it.
The rice only took about 45 minutes on high as the pan was very hot!
Such an incredible taste! My daughter loves rice so it was a winner!

Try it and save yourself some time and money!
Enjoy!

Words of Wisdom - 17/1

Rudeness is the weak man's imitation of strength.
Eric Hoffer


You might wonder why I wrote the above, Well as you know I use the Underground every single day. Sometimes I just ignore people around me but sometimes I just can't help from getting annoyed at how rude some people are.
Men just struck me with their ignorance!
Tonight there was a really pregnant lady waiting for the train. Next to her a guy who couldn't wait to get one so he snitched in front of her! Why do you think he was in such a hurry?
Well he spotted that there was an empty seat!
The empty seat happened to be a reserved seat.
He just sat down and ignored the very heavy pregnant lady!!!
A seat was offered to the pregnant lady by another woman and the guy just sat there!

So...if you are a guy and you use the public transport on a daily basis or not BE POLITE! Being polite feels nice especially when you do something for a pregnant lady.

Words of Wisdom - 16/1

Monday's! Oh how I hate Monday's! I don't think I ever look forward to be Monday! Not ever! Monday is the day when work starts! But this week in a way I couldn't wait to be Monday! It's been a hard weekend with lots of tantrums and me not feeling 100%. I don't think I ever feel 100% but this weekend is been just a bit too hard.
But I took a decision. Instead of being the indulgent mother that I always am I am going to try and bit a bit more firm and maybe like this my daughter will stop the tantrums when I say NO to her. You see when depressed sometimes you say YES or OK just for the sake of not hearing another scream or a cry.
But no more! I am going to try and be the responsible mother that I should be.
So my Words of Wisdom for today are:

"Pay attention and stay centered. You carry the mantle of 'Mother,' the eternal principle of balance and stability. When your children's energy is scattered, be grounded. When your children throw tantrums, be still. Know what you stand for. Be firm and consistent to teach your children about
boundaries. Thus you will root them in health and release their souls to limitless."

Vimala McClure, in The Tao of Motherhood.


Now just for you something to smile about:

Aubergine spread

This Aubergine spread - in Romanian Zacusca de vinete - is cooked in big quantities at the end of the summer. I remember that my grandmother use to make around 20-30 jars to last us all the way through the winter. That was because it was a bit more difficult to find fresh aubergines,tomatoes and peppers through the winter.
These days it is a lot easier so I just buy a couple of aubergines and grill them.

So for this spread you will need the below ingredients:
2 aubergines
3 peppers - red,yellow and green
1 tin chopped tomatoes
2 large onions
1 clove of garlic
Oil
Salt
Pepper

Firstly chopped the onion and garlic finely and put it to fry in a big frying pan along with the oil. Make sure it is enough old to cover the onion and not to burn it.
In the meantime grill the aubergines and the peppers. If you don't feel like doing it you can always buy them already done in Sainsbury's. I think is the Italian brand where he sauces are.

When all blackened and and soft take them off the grill and peel as the Aubergine above and peppers below. Let them cool and then cut finely:

When you finish cutting the Aubergine and the peppers add them on the top of the softened onion and garlic.

Mix all in with a wooden spoon and then add the chopped tomatoes and the bay leaf.
Cover with a lead and let it boil for about 10 minutes. At the end condiment with salt and pepper and all is ready!
If you wish when all is chilled you could take the bay leaf out and then use a mixer to make it as a paste. We like this dish as it comes though. It is better chunkier as you can taste the vegetables better. The spread works best on toasted bread.
So here is the end result:

Words of Wisdom - 15/1

Can't believe weekend is almost finished! I'm telling you 2 days I not enough! Why do we have to work 5 days and rest 2? I think that for families it should be the other way around.
Anyway....something like this might help:

a walk in the park, playing with your child and drinking a yummy cup of cappuccino can make you feel better!

Soup a la slow cooker

So yesterday I decided to use my slow cooker again. I think we bought it about 5 years ago but only used it a couple of times - maximum 10 times. I think is just that I find it a bit difficult to just forget about the conventional way of cooking
.
But yesterday it just seem handy to just put everything in the slow cooler and leave it cook while I was cleaning up the house.
So then I put a litre of water in the slow cooker and cover just to let it boil for a little bit. In the meantime I just prepared the vegetables. You see in Romania we don't actually liquidise the soup after its all boiled so you have to make sure that you cut your vegetables as you like.
So...I used one small onion that I cut really finely and add it to the boiling water.
So the I just went on with cutting the rest of the vegetables that I wanted to add to my soup:
1 carrot
1 parsnip
1 courgette
1 pepper
2 small potatoes
I cut them all as I liked - really small and added them to the pot and cover. Now I left it for like half an hour or so and then added brown rice - about 50 grams.
After another half an hour I added a tin of chopped tomatoes and let it boil for about an hour.
When finish just add a bit of salt,pepper and some lemon salt-this last ingredient makes the soup to have a sour taste. You can very well just use lemon juice instead.
Here is the end result:

We just love this soup In our family. It cleanses the body and is low fat as well!
Of course it can always be cooked on the hob as well.
Please note that I had the slow cooker on high.

Words of Wisdom - 14/1

Hello my lovelies! Today I have something to confess! Today is the day when I didn't step out my house ! I didn't even go to take the trash out! Usually it's daddy's job to take the trash anyway.
Instead while Hubby and Boogie went to swimming I stayed at home and clean, cook and baked!

If you want the recipe for the muffins above you can find it here. It is a Nigella insipired recipe.

Anyway all in all I had a nice day! Then in the afternoon hubby went supermarket shopping and I stayed home with my daughter. She is not feeling very well so it was better not to go out anywhere. I loved the fact that I didn't have to go anywhere or be anywhere either.

So my Words of Wisdom for today are:

When you are with the people you love - even a boring activity can make you happy! So enjoy your time with people you love! It's SPECIAL!

Now here is a cartoon for you to smile:

Romanian sauces with horseradish

The other day I shared with you a couple of recipes of sauces with garlic.
Today is time for some more Romanian recipes. Horseradish is again an ingredient that can be found in a lot of the Romanian recipes

If you like horseradish too check out the recipes below:

HORSERADISH SAUCE
SOS de hrean

1 horseradish root,peeled and grated
3 tbsp. water
1 tbsp. vinegar
1 tsp. salt
1 pinch granulated sugar

In a non-reactive bowl, mix water and vinegar. Add salt and sugar, and stir to dissolve. Add grated horseradish to your taste.
Keel well covered until ready to seve.
Serve cold with boiled meats or poultry.

HORSERADISH SAUCE WITH SOUR CREAM
Sos de Hrean cu Smantana

1 tbsp butter
2 tsp flour
1 horseradish root,peeled and grated
1 tsp salt
1 pinch granulated sugar
4 tbsp beef stock
1/2 cup sour cream

In a saucepan heat the butter over medium heat. Blend in the flour with a wooden spoon. Let it cool for 2 minutes. Add horseradish to your taste,salt,sugar and simmer for about 5 min. Taste and if it's not strong enough and some more horseradish,stir and simmer for another 2 min.

Serve warm with boiled meats.

Satcap Day!

The picture for the #Satcap that is hosted over at Mammasaurus Blog is a bit old but still funny.my daughter was so young!
Here it is and if you find that you have a caption for it please add it as a comment below:

For more pictures pop over at Mammasaurus and check all the other pictures that were submitted.

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Words of Wisdom - 13/1

Phew! Today was even more challenging then yesterday! I actually had a moment when I exploded today because someone was just stepping on my nerves!
But...then I went out after work with my Romanian friend and colleague Cristina! We had a couple of drinks,we chat and then had a meal! How nice after being bothered by those ugly and annoying person!
Anyway is now almost 10 PM and my words of wisdom for today are:

When someone get in your space and annoys you with their being just say...STOP!
Don't let yourself influenced by negativity! Is NOT GOOD FOR YOU!

Author: me I guess

Fireman Sam Application

  Romanian Mum presents

        FIRST OFFICIAL FIREMAN SAM APPLICATION  

 I hope you are not bored of me moaning about my love for iphone/ipad applications. My daughter happends to love them too so when is about receiving a free code to download a funny application for my daughter i will never say no. This time is about Fireman Sam. We receive the request before Christmas but i wanted to give my daughter the chance to give this application a fair test drive before i go on and i post my opinion here.
P2 Games launched this application in december and is meant to be for boys. However my daughter loves boyes stuff as well. She is only 33 months old and she doesn't make the difference between girls stuff and boys stuff. She is watching the cartoon so she was already familiar with the characters.
As it was downloading on my Ipad she got really excited. You see the application is featuring all the familiar characters,music and sounds effects from the TV show.

By playing you can learn with Fireman Sam and the rest of the Pontypandy Fire Crew as they take on the role of a fire cadet in training.  On depending how good you are you can earn an ‘Honorary Junior Fire Fighter’ certificate before putting your skills to the test and helping out Fireman Sam in various action-packed emergencies. This sounds a bit hard isn't it?  My daughter is almost 3 but still this application is a bit difficult for her.

There are 5 games to choose from, PLUS a special bonus virtual sticker album where players can get creative with stickers collected during game-play. 

Games include:

• HOSE PRACTICE – Learn how to use the hose with Elvis by filling buckets with water.  This activity can also be played against the clock, which provides an extra challenge!

• HIDE ‘N’ SEEK – Norman is up to his old tricks and has hidden lots of objects around the fire station.  Help Fireman Sam to find them but watch out for Norman!

• LOAD JUPITER – Fireman Sam needs your help to load Jupiter.  Find the correct items by matching the shadows.  This activity can also be played as a memory game, which provides a challenge for older players.

• SKY HIGH RESCUE – Oh dear the cats have escaped and Fireman Sam needs some help catching them.  A great chance to practice rescuing skills!

• FIRE FIGHTER – Finally – a call out to the first fire!  Use hose targeting skills to put out all the fires!  Good luck!

• Plus special STICKER ALBUM - Collect virtual stickers along the way and decorate a Sticker Album with many different Fireman Sam items and characters.

The Fireman Sam app is available for £1.99 from the iTunes App Store on iPad, iPhone and iPod touch or at www.itunes.com/appstore. 

Direct link: http://itunes.apple.com/gb/app/fireman-sam-junior-cadet/id484081903?mt=8