23/01/2012 by stupidgirl_no1.

Just scrolling through my past few posts and realise you’ve been deprived of photos of my dearest lad.  Of course you can see him anytime you like on my Flickr page, but for those who can’t be bothered clicking here he is last weekend when we visited my gorgeous rocking horse..oh and my parents as he’s at their house!

As you can see, I *ahem* kept him company for health and safety reasons…

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23/01/2012 by stupidgirl_no1.

Today the BIALL Blog features a post by me!  I wrote this blogpost about my attendance at the BIALL conference (most years in June).

Funnily enough it was published the same day as the lovely Management Committee at my work gave me permission to attend this year’s conference.  Belfast, here I come!

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18/01/2012 by stupidgirl_no1.

Owen loves his nursery, which is lucky as he’s there full time!  They do various projects and are good at trying to get the parents involved too.  Last Friday we got asked if we would take Lewis the nursery bear for the weekend - and along with him came a suitcase of pjs, toothbrush and a diary.  As well as being fun reading Lewis and Owen past diary entries at bedtime I knew I had to fill in what we had been doing.  Well, anyone who knows me well knows I don’t like my own handwriting, but I do like taking photos so I decided to use my secretarial skills and type something up to stick into his book.  The result, and what we got up to at the weekend, can be seen here: Lewis the nursery bear’s diary

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18/01/2012 by stupidgirl_no1.

We had an ace Christmas break, we were all off work and nursery inbetween, with Owen and I off the Friday before and Bryan off the Wednesday after so we all had some space as well!  Worked out nicely.  We managed to see various friends and all our key family members over the break which was great too.

Christmas Day Bryan cooked turkey for the Robertson side – that is his brother and their Dad and his wife.  Then Boxing Day we went down to my parent’s place for some more turkey.  The weather was bad so we ended up staying the night and Bryan made a new friend in Dad’s malt whisky cupboard…

During the holidays Ray and Nicole came to visit with their wee ones Lucas and Maya.  We had a lovely day together then Ray stayed with us and the men went out drinking before we all met for lunch the next day in town.  It was a lovely chance to see them all, and for the guys to chill out a bit. 

Well I hope 2012 is glorious and splendid to you, and that you had a good Christmas and Hogmanay as well. 

Posted in family, General waffle | 1 Comment »

18/01/2012 by stupidgirl_no1.

Still being naughty and not blogging much so thought I could share the letter I sent with Christmas cards as a bit of a round up of last year (may edit it a bit to allow for public consumption):

So 2011, what have you been to me?  Great in the main – or is that just my family that’s great?!  I’m still loving being a Mum although I can’t believe Owen is 2 already.  He’s fascinating right now as he learns new words and meets new things “oooh what’s that?”.  He is super cute and awesomely intelligent (not that I’m biased at all obviously.)  The other day I counted to 5 and then he said “6, 7”.  Of course show him 2 or more of something and its “2” or “more 2” – yes, he’s still learning!  Obsessions seem to be: “heigh ho” – that’s anything to do with Snow White and the Seven Dwarves; “yo ho me” – that’s pirates and his shortened version of the song “Yo Ho (A Pirate’s Life For Me)”; “buk buk egg” – chickens say, so are called, buk buk and he loves collecting their eggs when I take him to Creagan to see his doting Grandparents; and, usually linked to his Dad and Grandda “football” – he could kick and dribble a ball long before he could talk very well.  One thing I hadn’t expected to come with being a parent is the amazing feeling when you watch your husband, parents and in-laws with your wee one and see the effect they have on each other, it overawes me frequently.

Bryan’s brother Lee is still living with us – we even had his 4 kids visit for a while in the summer which was ace.  Owen didn’t sleep very well as he was so excited to see his cousins but they helped with him so it worked out fine – and it was lovely to get some quality time with them.  Lee now has Access Rights sorted but its not easy as they moved to Hastings earlier in the year.

Bryan’s work took on a big new contract so he’s been working hard on that, whilst mine has continued to provide me with a varied and enjoyable social life all in the name of “work”.  I even got a bus trip to Pitlochry Festival Theatre to have lunch and see My Fair Lady in September.  It was so fab I got my parents tickets for their birthdays and they loved it too. 

I can now strike “Join a Committee” off my bucket list.  I have attended meetings in London and Birmingham accordingly and met some lovely people.  I’ve even written an article for a professional journal so may soon be a “published writer” as well.

For the first time since our honeymoon Bryan suggested we have a “summer holiday” together this year.  Given the choice of the whole world…I booked us a week in Carnoustie (east coast of Scotland!).  We had an ace time, with Owen and I making full use of the pool.  We had trips to St Andrews Aquarium, Camperdown Wildlife Park in Dundee, Carnoustie beach, Arbroath beach (and cool miniature railway!) and Brechin Castle centre where they have those huge bouncy pillow things.  And the best bit was…Bryan talked about “our next holiday” – hurrah!

I have toned down my concert going somewhat but still managed: The Script, McFly, The View, Take That, Noah and the Whale, Katy Perry, Bryan Adams and Kasabian.  Theatre wise I saw: Cinderella by Scottish Ballet, History Boys, Avenue Q, Jekyll and Hyde, Sleepless in Seaton (local student show), Thriller, My Fair Lady, Flying Pigs doing The Silence of the Bams and I went to 2 fashion shows!  I also had a lovely couple of weekends away with my “gal pals”, one on Loch Tay and one near St Andrews.  Whilst I was out gallivanting Bryan obviously had some bonding time with Owen – and dedicated a few hours to his Xbox and Playstation addictions. 

As a family we went to see Beauty and The Beast (darling Owen was good as gold for the whole 3 hours in the theatre!) and Disney on Ice – which was amazing.  Other things we did as a family were to take Owen to Edinburgh zoo, a Baby Boogie in a nightclub (actually Daddy didn’t make that one for some reason…), a ride on a steam train made up to look like Thomas the Tank Engine, a steam fair (“tractor” was one of Owen’s first distinguishable words!), a farm open day when we got to sit in a tractor and a combine harvester (not sure who enjoyed that more, him or me!), Christmas tree light turning on carol service, and we went to Blair Drummond safari park with my parents on Dad’s 60th birthday.  Yes, that’s Dad joined Mum in the OAP bracket now – scary!

Health wise the boys are good.  Owen was at the hospital again about his eye, he was born with an underdeveloped tear duct and we’ve been keeping an eye on it but it was deemed unworthy of putting him through an operation, thankfully.  It seems to have got better since then too so hopefully we’ll just be able to cancel next year’s appointment when it comes and forget all about it!  I am finally happy about my weight and body – not something I expected to happen after having a baby, but something I am doing my best to enjoy to the full.  I even wore a mini skirt recently – and I bought shorts this summer!  I’ve had some health issues but it’s nothing unusual after giving birth and getting older apparently! 

Talking of birth – Bryan’s cousin Ray and his wife Nicole now have a boy and a girl – perfect set.  I’ve managed to have a few lovely baby cuddles with Maya – and its ace watching Lucas and Owen interacting with each other. 

Hope this finds you and yours well, and that any 2011 was good to you too.

Posted in family, body issues, Trips out, General waffle | 1 Comment »

04/01/2012 by stupidgirl_no1.

My primary school teacher, Joan Mann, wrote an article for the local church’s newsletter “The Belfry” about our beloved wee school.  It includes photos, names and so is a lovely trip down memory lane.

Balquhidder Primary School

I don’t have permission to reproduce it here but they didn’t ask permission to use a photo of me in shorts so I think we’re quits!! 

Posted in General waffle | 1 Comment »

28/09/2011 by stupidgirl_no1.

Well that’s it, Dad is now 60.  And what a lovely weekend we had which included helping him celebrate.  Obviously any 3 day weekend such as we had is an awesome thing, but we really did well this one!

Saturday we went for a walk to the scrublands round from our house and enjoyed the sunshine.  There are many photos, especially of Owen inspecting a bug, if you wish to see them.  My favourite has to be this one though…

Sunday we were to drive down to my parents place, so we stopped off en route at Camperdown Wildlife Park in Dundee to see the beasties.  Again there are several photos of my own and of Bryan’s.  We even had a picnic lunch in the sun.

Owen decided it was time he learnt how to use one of these camera things so I didn’t get to take as many as I might have done normally!

Anyway then it was down to Creagan and have dinner with my folks.  Dad had cooked us roast chicken and Owen looked a little concerned when I said it was chicken and then pointed out the window to the chicken run…  He ate mostly mashed potato it must be said!

The next morning, after checking the chickens for eggs and finding one which Grandad wrapped carefully for him to take home for tea, we all headed to Blair Drummond Safari Park.  There we had a fab and lovely time looking at more beasties.  Can you believe neither of my parents can remember ever having seen a real live meerkat before?!  The poor deprived folks!  Of course Owen’s favourite bit was splashing in the puddles, typical boy!  Again several photos, and a video of him splashing are available.

And I’m happy to report that my folks liked their pressies - last night they were at Pitlochry Theatre to see My Fair Lady, Mum was allowed her pressie a few days early to fit in with performances!  Hopefully they enjoyed it as much as I did when I had to go for work recently.   And who wouldn’t like a canvas of Owen and his Grandad?!

Posted in family, Trips out | 1 Comment »

23/09/2011 by stupidgirl_no1.

On Monday my Dad turns 60 (regardless of what he says about being 21…).  Then next Saturday my Mum reaches 64.

Obviously their birthday’s are theirs, and I do hope they have lovely celebrations.  But still.  I’m taking this personally.  I’m going to have “OAP” parents.  Add to this the fact that my darling little baby Owen turns 2 on 18th October (already?!) and I’m feeling rather old.  Certainly can’t deny being a grown up now can I?!  Even had a conversation with one of my friends about giving up my stupidgirl tag.  I can’t bear that obviously but I did discuss it.

That’s really all I have to say on the topic, just that its scary, getting old.  Of course the greys don’t help trying to deny it.  So I dyed my hair this week.  Oops.  Colour was a bit darker than usual, I now have pretty much black hair.  Which it must be said I have always wanted to try.  I just didn’t mean to do it just before 2 important functions at my work and then going to visit my parents.  Actually it was probably kinda fitting for the first function as we had the crime author Stuart MacBride into the library to do an author event for us.  He has nothing against the colour black.  Last night though was the President’s Dinner at my work, lots of VIPs from organisations around the city, including the Lord Provost.  I bet he didn’t like my hair.  Oops.

Dad won’t like it either when we go down to support him in his old age…I mean celebrate his birthday!  Ah well, such is life.

I am very excited about our impending visit though, we’re going down on Sunday so we will wake up with him (not literally obviously) on his 60th birthday.  SIXTY!!  The plan is that we have a family day out to Blair Drummond Safari Park so fingers crossed the weather lets us do just that.  I used to go every year when I was wee as we got a free family pass in exchange for having their brochures in the hotel.  I hadn’t been for years until this summer when I went with some fellow Law Librarians.  We had a fab time and I went home with my face painted as a dalmation…

Anyway I know you don’t care about me, so here’s the update on Owen…
He’s doing great, can count to 2, speaking lots of words now, obcessed with Snow White and the Seven Dwarves (Hi ho being frequent words on his lips!), loves cars, tractors, our cats, flirting with girls. He is really intelligent, last week I told him we were going to see his Grandda at lunchtime, he pointed to Bryan and said Dadda’s Dadda - which is right. It wasn’t a fluke either as back home that night he pointed to the football strip Reg bought him and that he was wearing proudly and said Dadda’s Dadda again!

Last time I took him to my parents’ place we drove down at his bedtime, the plan being to let him sleep in the car then quietly transfer him into a bed at their house. However I got out the car to find he’d woken up and was saying “Grandad” very excitedly. We’d got him and all the bags into the house and the monitors set up when he realised he shouldn’t be awake and started crying, but as soon as he was put into bed he rolled over mid cry and went to sleep! Bless him!

Anyway lunchtime over so will shut up for now, but will try and report back after the weekend!

Posted in family, Baby!, Animals, Trips out, General waffle | 4 Comments »

23/09/2011 by stupidgirl_no1.

As some of you may know, we have had Bryan’s brother Lee living with us for the last wee while.  Well, after much negotiation he was allowed to have his 4 kids for a 2 week visit.  As they moved to the South of England earlier this year he hasn’t been able to see them since, other than through electronic means which sadly lacks the hug functionality.

Its been fab to see them, although we have to admit it was a relief they didn’t need to stay with us the whole time as our wee house just ain’t big enough!  Owen has loved spending time with his cousins, and they’ve been so sweet with him - even when he woke us all up very early this morning!

(Oops just found this saved as a draft, not sure why I didn’t “Publish”.  Was a while ago they were here but still worth posting now I guess)

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31/07/2011 by stupidgirl_no1.

We are just back from Bryan and I’s first proper holiday together since our honeymoon eight years ago.  Given the choice of anywhere I wanted I chose self catering in Carnoustie and as you can see we had a whale of a time!  My photos and videos are online here.  ADDITION - Bryan’s photos are now available too!!

We were staying at a lovely converted stables that had a sports centre next door so most every morning but one Owen and I went for a swim after breakfast.  Most afternoons I went for a “proper swim” as well, and occassionally jumped in the sauna or spa bath.  One morning Bryan even got up in time for a swim with us which was a nice treat for Owen.

Each afternoon we did a different activity, we were really lucky with the weather - the only times it rained were during the night or the Thursday - when we’d arranged to go to Edinburgh to meet up with some friends and meet a 3 week old baby so we were going to be inside anyway!

So we travelled down on the Saturday, via Charleton Fruit Farm near Montrose.  Had an ice cream and a play.  Once we checked into our accommodation Owen took a nap, I unpacked and Bryan found the nearest Tesco and got us stocked up.

Sunday it only seemed right to hit Carnoustie beach.  We paddled, built a sand castle, played in the park, and enjoyed the sunshine.

Monday was a bit cloudy so we headed for St Andrew’s Aquarium where we had great fun waving at each and every fish and beastie.  Owen tried to copy a seal’s flipper movements which amused me a lot!

The next day we headed for Camperdown Park in Dundee which has a Wildlife Centre.  Now we have passed signs for this many, many times and I wish we had been sooner as its ace!  Will certainly be stopping off there in the future, either just for a run around in the huge play park or to visit the animals again.  I was disappointed to find that the elephant I’d seen mentioned on the website was only a sculputure but all the other animals were cool!  Even the wolves got up to see us, and Owen was quite taken with the brown bears.  We were slighty scared by a skunk who looked a bit dead but on close inspection he was just having a very deep sleep in the sun!! 

The next day we were all a bit skunked…so we had a quiet day flopping around the house, kicking footballs around the disused tennis court, and doing not much else.  Then in the late afternoon we went back to Carnoustie beach and had a lovely time at the play park.

Thursday, as I mentioned, we went into Edinburgh and met up with our friends Iain and Laura and their daughters.  We all had lunch and then Owen and Rose were set loose in a soft play area.  Then it was back to the Young household for a visit from Kieron and Lyndsay and a good catch up with all their news as well.  It was lovely to see them all - especially the tiny wee baby who I was allowed to hold a couple of times!

Friday we were obviously running out of time so managed to do two different destinations!  It was also the day Owen said “no!” to the swimming pool in the morning.  First we went to Crombie Country Park and had a nice walk looking for nature, most of which Owen scared away in his noisy ways!!

Then it was home for lunch before we headed to Arbroath to see what their beach entertainments were like - and they were glorious!!  A huge paddling pool, a play park and….a miniature railway!  Obviously we HAD to take Owen on it.

That night we were going to get an Indian meal from a take away we’d been told about but we decided to have a leftovers meal instead to eat up all the bits and pieces in the fridge.  It was an odd mix but rather satisfying nonetheless!

Saturday was home time, but not before one last stop off!  I had often noticed Brechin Castle Centre from the road when passing so it was finally time to explore it.  Unfortunately when we got there we were firmly told there were to be no picnics and there were no animals anymore - but on the upside it was free to enter!  Inside we found those huge bouncy cushion-like things which proved to be quite entertaining for rather a while!  Owen was also excited to get to sit on a tractor and pet a cow! 

We had our picnic in the car, with ice creams for pudding, and then headed for home.  Bryan and I agreed it had been a sucessfully enjoyable holiday for all of us, just a shame it wasn’t longer!  The only thing we hadn’t done that we had planned to was to spend a rainy afternoon at the cinema for Cars 2 - but we certainly enjoyed the sunshine in its place, and we can always do that now we’re home! 

Owen spent the afternoon re-acquainting himself with his toys and books before heading happily to his own bed.  After which Bryan, Lee and I enjoyed a Pizza Hut with beers, ice cream and a good movie.  There’s no place like home!

Posted in Animals, Trips out | 1 Comment »