A Humdrum Mum

Week 1 - just learning Some three weeks ago, during a chat about boredom or exercise or some other rubbish, I said we should make an effort to swim more. I meant after June! She challenged me to start the next day! In April! What? Of course, I couldn't say no and of course, we have wet suits. Shorties. We are frequent sea swimmers; luckily our boys all love the sea and can spend hours messing around there. Park Wednesday, or Thursday or whatever day it was that term, moves into Beach Wednesday when it's warm enough. This year though, with all of them being a secondary school, suddenly life is different. There sadly is no park day. No frequent catch up for us mums either. Week 2 - sun! Yesterday was swim week 3 and we must miss this weekend coming as Mrs H is away. What have we learned? We have learned that you need to boil the kettle before setting off to swim. You need a hat afterwards, Ms Humdrum needs to remember! You need gloves as it's FREEZING and your h

Mrs B and myself, well we like to call ourselves Exercise Tarts. We like to try new things, stay for a while, then find something else. From dancing to clubbercise, tennis to circuits, we've tried it. (Well, those are the only ones we have done, but you get what I mean.)  Since giving up tennis circuits at the end of the last school year (and with all the changes Year 7 brings, we never got around to returning), we've been saying we must start something again. So when Mrs B tagged me in a competition to win a month free at a kettlebell class, I though OMG I bet we'll bloody well win it and have to do it! Oh well, at least it'd give me something to write about. And we did win! A free month of classes with Southsea Kettlebell Club , based in town near Commercial Road! So we started two weeks ago, nervously approaching, not knowing what to expect. Maybe our instructor expected two gym bunnies, or maybe he did think he'd find two mums in need of a little help? Hen

Good evening and welcome to this new series on A Humdrum Mum, called An Exercise A Day. I aim to do exactly what it says on the tin, one exercise a day. Regretfully, I didn't start this yesterday after my awesome 8am sea swim, but hey, today's as good a day as any. With Mr Humdrum out on his mammoth bike ride and Master exercising his thumbs, the time was ripe for me to make the most of my last lie in before the return to school tomorrow. Lazily, I checked messages, skimmed through Facebook etc, played Scrabble and decided to do some yoga.  Googling bedroom yoga (and not knowing actually what I was going to find - some of you may remember one of Master's early girlfriends suggesting yoga couple poses!), I found 5 Minute Morning Yoga with Adriene . I laid on the floor, not appropriately dressed for yoga but safe in the comfort of my closed bedroom, balanced my phone in front of me and started to do some cat cow (?) moves after starting off in table top position. I say, y

Apprehensive and offended by my fringe (I felt the need to add "sea" in the title - just in case it was misunderstood.) Always on the look-out for new activities, my friend and I were discussing swimming in the summer for fitness reasons. She (I thought jokingly) suggested we swim this week! Half believing she wouldn't come, I turned up at her house at 8am, in full fog, replete with shortie wet suit,  booties, goggles, tea and thick fluffy fleece. After changing in the hut, we walked through the wet-with-dew grass. The promenade was busy, with runners pre-park run, cyclists, walkers and lots of dog walkers on the beach, all in thick coats and woolly hats.  See, we're smiling She said that we just had to go for it. Run in. So she did. I was a little behind her, as usual. She dipped under with a somewhat surprised expression on her face. I can stand tummy-level until the cows come home, but I braved a back-first-dip-under. Some expletives from me. What hit

Easter egg hunt Lots of lunches out, with great company and food! A trip to London to the Tower and the Dungeons, amongst other things Renewal of the beach hut this season, and first visit now keys work! Reading material, fact and fiction Walking and catching up in the rain and wind Walking and catching up in the sun and wind And a little bit of pampering

W e just had to make the most of a Tuesday sleepover, so off to The Merchant House we trotted. Mr Humdrum had already been, saying that Saturday afternoons were a little like a creche, but that he wished this pub had been around 20 years ago, when we actually went out! The layout is more like pub rooms than a pub, but I love the idea of queuing 2x2 at the bar, as they can only serve two at a time. So civilised. Mr Humdrum chose a chocolate porter, but I tried a few gins. First Bathtub, then Mermaid, followed by Gin Lane. All served with appropriate flora and fauna. (And in a decent glass - in London over Easter weekend, everywhere served G&T in a horrid almost pint glass. Grrr.) We decided to sample their street food - burgers seem quite popular these days don't they?! Mr Humdrum didn't know how they cooked their burgers so well that hardly any fat came out, though it was not dry at all. The chef did explain it (cloches etc) but Mr Humdrum still doesn't know how

Usually once a year, we like to pop up to town with the boy, taking in a few touristy things and educational visits. Natural History Museum, check; Science Museum, check (boring); Eye, check; Buck Palace, check etc etc. This year, we've taken a tween. Someone who didn't want to go to the Star Wars virtual reality gaming experience in Stratford, much to his dad's disappointment I fear. Someone who is hard to please at home, never mind on holiday if we don't have wifi or an X Box. Day 1 - Good Friday - Shopping. Messrs Humdrum both love shopping. Master H has a new found obsession with shoes, which would be fine if he wasn't still growing. Our favourite mall is Westfield  at Stratford and we spent the most time/money in Foot Asylum, checking out clothing from a new brand, not called WKD as we teased, by KWD. To be fair, he did spend his birthday money from January in there! Our hotel was the Hilton Double Tree by the ExCel, where we've stayed before on ou