On the telly...

I love my telly; I love the American sitcoms and the diet shows and the craft shows and shows that show peoples homes and how they manage them.

Mr Bucket does NOT care for these shows. He tends to like the more factual shows, history and architecture.

Although we both have a soft spot for Midsummer Murders and Poirot.

So imagine my surprise when he told me about a tv programme that he'd spotted and thought that I would love it AND he sat through it with me.

It was on Discovery Real Time and called Extreme Couponing - it was BRILLIANT!!

To my UK readers - you'll be gutted that we can't do this.
To my US readers - I'm sick with jealousy that we can't do this.

Basically the show is about ladies (haven't seen any men yet) that collect the mountains of coupons that they can get hold of and use them for their shopping, spending hardly any of their own money.

The one I saw last night had one lady actually being owed money by the supermarket and she had to get more stuff just to bring her amount to $0. I really felt sorry for the cashier who had to wade through all the stuff, one girl was on the till for 2 hours with one woman and she had to clock off and someone else took over.

You should see the mountains of stuff they hoard have at their homes. It is unbelievable but in some strange way - I WANT TO DO THIS!!!

 Source: Google images

So today I went on the computer to see what coupons I could get hold of and found a pretty good site that I'd never heard of before - Supersavvyme. It's run by Proctor and Gamble so helpful coupons and if you join their Savvy Circle then you might trial products before they hit the shops. Every little helps and could be fun so I'm giving it a go. Sam xx

Say what????

Kids are funny. And surprising. And enjoyable.

And they are hilariously rude at times without realising it and it takes a lot of willpower to stop myself from laughing out loud so I can tell them why that word is 'bad'.

Picture the scene, a loving mother doing the ironing (which really needed doing) whilst her small son is watching a childrens cartoon. He laughs, then dances along and sings out,

"She's an alien whore, she's an alien whore".

WHOA!! Iron down, look of shock on my face. WHAT WAS THAT???!!!

"It's the song, she's an alien whore".

Before we go any further, the cartoon was Phineus and Ferb which is fairly harmless about two boys who invent things to make the summer holidays pass by. There is an annoying sister who tries to catch them out and a side story of an evil inventor and a spy platypus (I know, I know).

This episode was about making the dad seem cool and hip, singing an 80's inspired techno song about an alien girl.

I listened very closely to the song and then explained to him that the line should have been
"she's got an alien HEART".

He did start singing the right words and we had a bit of a giggle. Luckily he's not at that age when he starts asking what the 'bad' word means. Sam xx

Some new fun

We finally decided to get 'with it' and get a Wii for Christmas - they kids were over the moon
(this means happy for those that might not have heard this phrase) by this and have been trying to play it non-stop.

When we were out shopping, we joined the HUGE queue in the local game shop and purchased a couple of games to try out - Mario Galaxy and Just Dance 3. Of course, we had to play these IMMEDIATELY but we had to time them so there weren't too many arguments between the kids.

Source: Google Images

Just Dance 3 was brilliant but we could only do the arm motions. Hopefully we'll get a little better and soon be jumping all over the place. My only complaint is that I was doing really well but got confused at the end about putting on my profile - Miss Bucket thought it was brilliant that I saved it to hers, so she had a really good score.

I had to do it all over again to put it on my score. Let me tell you, the sweat was pouring off me - I'm no spring chicken anymore. I WAS KNACKERED!!!

The Mario Galaxy is fun but you need two controllers for this, one in each hand. So it was left to me to start it off and try the game.... 2 hours later, my back and shoulders were killing me. I had the family telling me what I did wrong and giving me 'helpful' advice, and how I should play it and then saying "do it again".

Mr Bucket then had a go and I should say at this point that he doesn't really 'do' computer games of ANY sort. I sat back and watched as he did really well and just whizzed through the game. Although it was only up to the point that I finished - of course, he'd watched what I'd done so he knew how to get through the levels each time - BIG CHEATER!!!!!! I'm making him go first next time.

Don't get me wrong, we love board games - Sorry, Monopoly (that game goes on for ages) and Rummikub are a few of our favourites. But the Wii is a lot of fun using hand/eye coordination and it gets the kids jumping around which must be a good thing. Sam xx

Happy New Year..

Happy New Year to anyone who is reading this. I hope that 2012 will be a healthy, happy and wonderful year for you all.

I'm going to have to do this post in instalments today as I'm going to be busy cooking; watching tv; playing Mario Galaxy on Wii and imbibing copious amounts of sherry today.

Just in case you think I might have a sherry problem - I don't. It's one of those things that you only eat/drink at certain times of the year, even though you love it. Think pancakes on Shrove Tuesday; mince pies at Christmas; Cadburys cream eggs at Easter; Hot cross buns; the chocolate cake I only make at Christmas; Stews in winter time when the months are cold... Sherry is just like that, so I'm making the most of it as soon I won't drink it at all until, probably, I see the Coca Cola Santa advert on telly again.

12.40pm: I've the beef in the oven surrounded by home-grown onions. The smell is gorgeous and I've just peeled the roast potatoes and ready to put on the boil. I'm listening to Duran Duran on Radio 2 and I can hear Bucket jnr has just jumped on Mr Bucket whilst he's watching Worlds Strongest Man. Miss Bucket is currently watching re-runs of Doctor Who (it's David Tennant for all other DT fans out there - swoon).

Source: Google Images - the lovely David Tennant

1.50pm: Okay, dinner is a little late, still waiting for the beef to rest but it tastes lovely from the end bits that Mr Bucket and I have pinched. Potatoes look great and I've done loads of Aunt Bessies Yorkshires as Mr Bucket likes to have some with syrup for pudding. Hurry up beef!!!!!

5.00pm: Right then, dinner is definitely over - bellies stuffed, all bits eaten and condiments put away. I'm feeling really fat and lazy at the moment and Mr Bucket wants us to do Wii Fit

(lot of exercises) - NOT A CHANCE!!!

Pass the Roses tin and stuff me up baby...Only joking, I only had 3.

I've been considering the New Year Resolutions that is customary to do and I seem to have come up with the usual suspects.... lose weight, be happy and try to be more patient. I'm hitting the big 4-0 this year and even though I might have left it a little too late to lose loads of fatty stuff by the big date, I'm going to really dig deep this year and get it off for good. Hopefully I'll look semi-decent by the time the holidays come around. So fingers crossed and here's hoping.

Not too much more this evening except veg-ing out in front of the boggle-box and watching maybe Treasure Island with Eddie Izzard and then catching up with Sherlock Holmes or the other way round. I'll wait and see, both look good. I've just got to make sure that I don't start snoozing instead.

Once again, I wish you a joyous 2012.

Sam xx



Must watch...

Saw a brilliant tv programme last night - it had really scary bits that had me biting my nails; sitting on the edge of my seat and covering my eyes in some places. But I just couldn't look away.

No, it wasn't a Law and Order or CSI or some gripping BBC detective drama, it was Ice Road Truckers: Deadliest Roads on Channel 5. They were driving in the Himalayas and I can tell you they were right on the edge of some scary roads. I've missed a couple of episodes but, I tell you, I won't miss anymore.

Source Google Images

I think the reason that it was scary for me is that it brought back memories of a family trip we went on in 2006. Me, Mr Bucket and Miss Bucket went on a 'once in a lifetime trip' to New Zealand - absolutely stunning place and thoroughly recommend it to everyone.

Part of our trip was in the North Island where we hired a campervan (motorhome) and travelled around. This would have been really good except for the fact that we couldn't have Miss Bucket's car seat in the back, she would have to be sitting in the front (she was three at the time). So I sat in the back. So far, so good.

Unfortunately, the North Island has a lot of steep hills and some of them had very BIG drops at the side of the road. When you are sitting in a vehicle like this and it goes round corners, the back end looks like it swings out and at times, to me, it seemed like Mr Bucket had underestimated things and I was hanging over the precipice.

Whenever I saw that a hill was due up I closed my eyes, clasped my hands and prayed that I wouldn't be sick. As I said, SCARY!!!  Except for this, I loved the place.

But anyway, try to catch the programme as it's really good. Next time they are on even SCARIER roads, I'd better have a cushion ready to hide behind. Sam xx