Good riddance 2012 ... Welcome 2013!

Only one day left and I can't wait to see the back of 2012! Without a doubt, it's been one of the most difficult, challenging and unforgettable years of my life. Although I have also learnt a lot and become a much stronger person.
After 13 years of marriage I decided to go it alone. A tough decision as it didn't just affect my life but the lives of my children too. It is heartbreaking when your 6 year old daughter says, "You've ruined my happy ever after." If only life was as simple as a fairy tale!
As I work full-time, in order to provide for my children, I find that many women are quick to judge me and my role as a mother. Why are people so quick to judge? Just because you have given up your career to look after your kids doesn't make you a better mother!
One downside of working full-time is not having time to prepare and cook healthy meals every night. Over the last few months I have slowly put on almost a stone :( So one of my goals for 2013 is to lose that excess weight and look good in my size 8 dresses! I have already written my diet plan.
I'm a naturally busy person and am surprisingly organised, I even amaze myself sometimes! But I often take on too much and consequently feel exhausted at the end of it. Recently I have been redecorating. I started slowly repainting my living room. Then went a bit mad, deciding to completely redecorate both the girls' and my rooms. It was a lot of hard work and I can now strip wallpaper and make flat pack furniture, something I have always shied away from. The end result has been fantastic. By spring 2013 my plan is to repaint all the other rooms and I'm soon off to order laminate flooring for my living and dining rooms.
So I have achieved a lot in 2012 and have so much to be thankful for. Most importantly my 3 beautiful children and my loving parents and sister. Also I have some fantastic and extremely supportive friends.
Happy new year and here's hoping that 2013 is the best one yet!

Rapidly falling levels of customer service

Has anyone else noticed how much the standards of customer service have fallen? Recently I have been less than impressed with how I, as a customer, have been treated by a range of companies. I was under the impression that the customer is always right, obviously I was wrong! Or have standards and quality of customer service just fallen ... drastically?

A few years ago I worked as a Business Consultant and one of our clients was a successful online retailer. They put the customer first and stated: "Under promise, over deliver". This always worked ... tell a customer that they will receive their order in a week, it arrives three days later, you have a happy customer. If a package gets lost in the post, is that the customer's fault? No! It's up to the business to send the order again.

Earlier today, I was treated extremely poorly by a photography company. I overpaid (by almost £10) for my daughter's first school photos. I chose the cheapest option as I didn't want to spend too much on the photos, while also wanting a reminder of her first school photo. I was assured I would get change, otherwise I would just have ordered the more expensive photos. But when I phoned the company today (Profile Photography in Herne Bay, Kent), I was informed that there was no evidence that I had overpaid and therefore I would not be receiving any change. Indeed, my word, as the customer, was not good enough. Even though the school was aware that I was owed money. In fact, the man I spoke to was so rude that he put the phone down during the conversation. Is that good customer service? If there was an OFSTED for customer service, they would be in special measures!

This is not the only company which have fallen extremely short of my (high?!) expectations. Although I don't think expecting basic manners is asking too much!

When I returned from holiday last August and commenced the post-holiday washing, I was devastated when I discovered smoke rapidly escaping from the machine. A quick visit to Comet followed and I returned home confident that I would be the proud owner of a new washing machine a few days later. As anticipated, I was last on the list for the machine to be delivered that day. Nevertheless, I didn't mind, as long as I could start working my way through the massive pile of washing that evening, I was happy (not ecstatic though, as washing clothes is a necessity, not exciting!)

So you can imagine my extreme disappointment when the men refused to remove my machine as it could potentially damage the flooring in my kitchen. I stated that I just wanted a new washing machine but they totally refused to move it, even though I paid for my old machine to be collected as well as the new one to be connected. Unfortunately I was unable to persuade them to move the machine. Were they just being lazy and wanting to finish their shift? I had the choice to send the new machine back or have it delivered and some one else come the following day to fit it, if my husband removed the old one. After some consideration, I decided it would be better to have the machine delivered. The men did help clear a space. However, bearing in mind that they wouldn't remove the old machine just in case they damaged the floor, they pushed the new one under a counter, ripping the flooring in the process. Having closely observed this, I stated that as they had already damaged the floor, they might as well remove the old machine and connect the new one. They refused. When I phoned Comet the following day they were shocked that the men failed to take the old machine - were they just being lazy? Two men turned up to fit the machine, which was done quickly. Although Comet promised to look into it, I'm still waiting for a response!

Comet were not the only company to fail to deliver an acceptable level of customer service. A while ago I ordered a new washing line (I have 3 children, I'm allowed to order boring pieces of equipment!) I waited in, on what was one of the last days of the summer holidays, for the washing line. When I phoned Homebase to enquire where it was, I was told it was out of stock! So why was I allowed to order it?! That order was cancelled by me.

Books failed to arrive from WHSmith, I was told I would have to pay again for my order (almost £100). Fortunately, they listened to my argument and re-sent the order without me having to pay any more money.                     

                                   

I'm sure if I took time to think about it I could come up with a lot more examples of extremely poor customer service. "The customer is always right", clearly does not apply in many companies.

I love the "under promise, over deliver", motto as customers are usually impressed with the speedy delivery and will want to continue to use the company. Is that not the aim of many companies? In the current economic conditions, surely companies should be working hard to keep their customers?

Who has infuriated you? Do you want to name and shame those companies who have delivered poor customer service? I will probably not receive my refund from the photography company and I will never get back that wasted time I spent waiting for something that was never going to be delivered, but if this makes people think twice about using these companies, then I have achieved something. Unfortunately, I will not be ordering any school photos of my beautiful daughter, unless they change the company they use. But is it really a loss? Why do we waste money on mediocre school photos when we could have done better ourselves?

I want to be young again!!

Recently I've started feeling old, or rather started to feel my age! And I wonder when I should start lying about my age and what age I could get away with!

Whilst reflecting on why I have suddenly begun to feel ancient, I came across a 'lovely' article, which made me realise I'm not the only one to feel old ... Women feel old at 29! So I decided to compile a list of things that make me realise that I am no longer as young as I'd like to be:

1. It makes my day when I'm told I look too young to have an 11 year old, I wish I was!
2. I meet someone who I assume is about the same age as me to find out they're 10 years younger. Do they look really awful for their age or do I just have poor judgement?!
3. Then I meet someone who is the same age as me who looks way older and I begin to wonder if I look as old as them!!
4. The fact that I have actually started to think about my age, it never worried me before.
5. I enjoy clubbing but beginning to wonder if the underage teenagers think I should be at home  snuggled on the sofa rather than out having fun!
6. I realise that most people my age would rather be snuggled on the sofa than out clubbing!
7. I love bouncing on the trampoline but have to get off slowly.
8. When I'm at the park with the kids, I have to assess if I can get off the climbing frame, before I get on it!
9. Finally accepted that my mum is always right ... your metabolism starts to slow down as you get older, so eat less or you'll get fat!
10. Pretty sure I'm beginning to get wrinkles. Can I call them laughter lines?!

Please add your own!

Which pet shall we chose?

When we moved house last year, we told the children that we would eventually get a pet. Growing up I had a variety of pets - dogs, cats, hamsters, budgies. I used to love cuddling them, walking them (we had a cat who enjoyed walking to the shops) and playing hide and seek. Again our rather mischevious black cat would hide in the coal so we could only see her eyes peering through the darkness and when given the chance would run and get stuck behind the furniture. The only part about having a pet that I really didn't like was cleaning up, this job was my dad's!

There is so much to consider when trying to chose a pet: Where will it live? How much does it cost to buy? What food does it eat? Is it expensive? How much time do you need to commit to looking after it? Can you leave it alone during the day?

Initially we discussed getting a dog. We live near lots of parks, dogs are great companions, the children seemed keen and there are dog exercise and training classes nearby. However, a few months ago my four year old got knocked over by two huge dogs and one of them licked the baby in the face. So for a while the girls were scared of dogs and having one as a pet was completely out of the question.

Cute: How could you resist those gorgeous puppy dog eyes?!

Then we met Ben, a gorgeous and gentle dog who had just been bought by my friend Maria. I had invited Maria to stay with us but was rather unsure about having a dog in the house. After some consideration I thought it would help the girls get over their fear and of course, I didn't leave either of them alone with Ben. Abi, who had just turned one, took to Ben almost immediately. Eventually she was dangling her food from the high chair (apparently I did this too, at a similar age), and trying to encourage him to play with her by rolling a ball or toy to him. Since then she has been really confident around dogs, even ones bigger than herself. However, Sophie remains rather cautious around dogs. So we thought it was best to postpone our decision about getting a dog.

Walkies: Maria, Abi and Ben at the park

Even though I love walking and running and we have so many parks nearby, I'm not sure I have enough time to dedicate looking after a dog. I don't think it's really fair to leave a dog alone for a few hours during the day and as I will soon be working again (only part-time, fortunately), this is a major consideration. Holidays also would be an issue. I remember my parents putting one of our dogs in kennels, he seemed to enjoy it but I think it can be rather costly.

As a family we have discussed what other pets we like. Being a typical girl, Sophie wants a horse. Barbie has one, so why can't she?! Since moving house, my love of cats has dwindled. They can be such pests, always running through my garden and leaving little surprises in the flower beds. Apparently if we got a cat, other cats would not invade its territory, which would be useful. But my husband doesn't like cats, I think he views them as a pet for an old lady. It's definitely not a very manly pet, not like a dog.

Who's the Boss? Ben takes the driving seat!

So which pet should we get? Personally, I find hamsters and gerbils too small. Also I don't really want a pet that has to live inside. I can cope with the smell and the mess outside but not in the house! Budgies are beautiful and very funny when they start talking to themselves. But they aren't cuddly or as cute as many other pets.


Curious: Abi is fascinated by the speedy gerbils

Yesterday, the children got the opportunity to stroke and cuddle a few pets, a hen, rabbit and guinea pig. The hen was surprisingly soft but definitely not an option as a pet! The rabbit was really cute and fluffy. Although when I was younger, I remember being very keen to have a rabbit. But after the initial enthusiasm wore off, I lost interest. Apparently rabbits can be a bit tempermental and prone to nip. Therefore not a good idea for anyone with young children, especially toddlers who like to prod and poke!

Fluffy: are rabbits as cute as they look?

Finally, the children got to cuddle a guinea pig. As her older sister held the guinea pig, Abi rushed over and immediately poked it, narrowly missing an eye. But the guinea pig didn't jump, squeal, retaliate ... anything! Indeed, it appears that we have found the perfect pet for us. It's cute, cuddly, good natured, fantastic with children and is not too expensive. It won't get too lonely if we're out for a while and is a lot easier to look after than a dog. Perhaps one of this best things about this decision, is that we all agree!

The perfect pet: cute, cuddly and friendly

My new obsession!

Beautiful swirly icing!

Recently I have developed an obsession with making cupcakes (the kids love them, they are really easy to make and they enjoy making them). Although I have always feel slightly envious when I see beautifully decorated cupcakes with swirly icing. When I attempt to put icing on mine, it usually rolls off the sides and never tastes as delicious as it should.

Using my amazing new decorator pump

Until recently I thought I would never create cupcakes that looked too good to eat. Mine have always tasted yummy but need to improve their appearance! So you can imagine how excited I was when I discovered that I could indeed aspire to make perfect cupcakes ...

A few weeks ago I went to a Pampered Chef party and one of the activities was decorating cupcakes using a special decorator pump. We got to try a range of nozzles but my favourite, of course, was the one that created swirls. As soon as I used it, I knew I had to buy it.

Today I used it for the first time and it was fantastic! It's so simple to use, even my one year old had a go. My cupcakes aren't perfect yet but I intend to practice as much as I can. I have just over a month until my daughter's fifth birthday and I am determined to bake the most delicious cake, decorated with swirls. I am going to enjoy all the practicing and I think the kids may do too!

Yummy cupcakes that taste as good as they look!

Am I expecting too much?

This evening I have tried several times to reply to all the lovely and much appreciated comments on my blog posts. But my I-phone is refusing to co-operate. I can post comments from other people but not my own, which I'm beginning to find rather frustrating.

Most of the time I love my I-phone and would far rather use it to browse the Internet and use facebook and Twitter. I take photos and videos with it, use it as my diary and record my shopping list on it. Even my children love watching the videos on YouTube. (There is a fantastic version of Twinkle, twinkle, which my girls love).

But it seems my favourite piece of technology has its restrictions. Recently some of my apps have been a little tempermental. Occasionally they'll work but quite often they will refuse to open. When I started running I relied on IMapMyRun to track my distance and speed and I found the voice feedback was great. But after downloading the updated version, I could no longer access it.

Maybe it's because my phone is almost two years old. Although I think a decent phone should maintain it's quality. Or maybe I just expect too much from a little piece of technology!

This is my first blog post that I've written on my I-phone so I've decided not to attempt to add any photos, maybe next time! I've no computer access for a couple of weeks. So if I don't reply to your comment, I'm not ignoring you or being rude! I really appreciate the comments and advice and love that so many people are reading my blog! :)

Sunshine = happiness!

The park this morning

As I woke up this morning, I realised something was different ... it wasn't raining, the sun was shining and the sky was blue! After leaving my four-year to pre-school, I set off on a run. It's amazing how much better everything looks in the sunshine. When I reached the park I realised that I had forgotten something very important in my last blog post (I hate the rain!). Sunshine and warm weather makes me feel extremely happy!! 

Life is just so much better in the sun ... the children and I can play in the garden, we don't need to wear layers of clothing and bring coats when we go out, just in case it starts raining, and the washing dries!! We can relax, have a barbecue, sit outside and enjoy a glass of wine after the children have gone to bed.

Even though it's now evening and dark outside, I am still in a positive, happy mood. Long may the sunshine continue ...