Becoming a @PremierInn Ambassador

A few of you may have noticed that a new badge has appeared in the sidebar or seen me post a a photo via Instagram but just in case you missed it here it is again.

That’s right we are proud to announce that we are now officially Premier Inn Ambassadors.

So what does this mean…well over the course of the next 12 months we have 4 stays are various Premier Inn’s from around the country which should be easy as they have 600+ hotels to choose from.

I am very proud to become one of the first ever Ambassadors (this is the first time they’ve ever done it) and I really hope you’ll enjoy the reviews and it will give you a clear idea of what you can expect from the Premier Inn chain.

As always the reviews will be honest and all our own thoughts.

The Printed Media

I’ve considered writing this for a little while but the horrible events over the last day or so have brought this back into my mind.

The horrible events are of course the appalling daylight murder of the young father of one Lee Rigby the active Soldier who was going about his daily business. I am not here to go over what happened as I’m sure we’ve all seen the news and followed it on Twitter.

My problem is the various newspapers printing their papers with the front covered in images of the two suspected murders covered in blood and holding weapons. I know these images are available online, or all over the news but these are things I as a parent of young children can control, I won’t have the news on while the girls are around and they are too young to use the computer.

However I can’t control the printed media, they plaster every paper with these images and the papers are normally the first thing you see in the shop and they are always at eye level. I can understand the photos being printed on the inside but is it needed to be on the front?

A while ago there was a campaign for ‘Lad’ magazines to be covered over as the near naked women on the front offended which is fair enough but these front covers offend me much more than a near naked man or woman could ever do. May be we should start a campaign to get them to stop the offensive front pages.

 

#TheGallery – Drink

Ah one of my favourite subject, just not the alcoholic variety. I love a cup of tea, milk two sugars if anyone’s putting the kettle on.

There is of course something that makes a cup of tea even better and that is cake…another of my favourite subjects. So here is my offering

Tea

TheGallery

 

The Holy Grail of Sleep

Every parent I know is in search of one thing…sleep. Good quality sleep where you’re not woken up by being jumped on or poked.

A lay-in? What is that? I seem to remember something similar to that but that was before children came along and I don’t see it happening again for at least another 10 years.

With no chance of getting a lay-in it means making the most of the few hours sleep you do manage to get so for me than means making the room and bed as comfy as possible and one of the best ways to make your bed super comfy is by using a memory foam topper, I fond that you can get lots at Zleeps.   They are great and can transform any rusty old mattress into something  which will give you a near perfect night’s sleep.

However if you wish to have an even better sale then have a look on the Zleep mattress sale webpage unfortunately they cannot guarantee an extra long lay-in.

I found I guide to sleeping better on Helpguide. Have a read of it, here, and let me know if any of it works for you.

Add to that a super soft cotton duvet and you have yourself a very inviting bedroom, for added comfort my two girls have taken to adding small bits of Lego to the bed so at 11 o’clock at night I get the added shock and I often have a pillow of breakfast crumbs as they come in to our bed in the morning and watch TV and eat their breakfast.

What tips do you have for a good night’s sleep?

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#MealPlanningMonday – 20th May

It’s that time of the week again for MealPlanningMonday and this week we’ve tried to be as cheap as possible.

Cajun Chicken with Minty New Potatoes

Salmon in Lemon and Dill with Vegetables and Crispy Potatoes

Jacket Potatoes with Prawn Cocktail

Vegetable Pizza

Pizza Express as a special treat 

Tuna Wedge Bake with Hot Bread Rolls

Now all of those meals would taste a lot nicer if the sun could make an appearance but it’s not looking likely.

The aim this week is also to try and comment on a lot more peoples menu’s.

Meal Planning Monday

Our First Date – #MagicMoments

This little adventure started way back at in January 2001 where little old me who had just turned 18 and a pretty young thing who had just turned 17 worked together.

We’d spoken a little but not much but we had a mutual friend. She was mainly Christmas cover so it wouldn’t be long until her hours would be cut and we wouldn’t work during the week together so I decided to pass my number to our mutual friend and she what happened.
Well as luck would have it she did text and a few days later we would be going on our first date. It was set after work on Saturday I would meet her and walk her home and we’d go to the cinema.

This would bring my first test little did I know that once I walked her home I’d meet her parents…within the first hour of our date! Luckily I’m a pleasant young man or at least I was back then and I seemed to get the seal of approval.

We took a little walk down to the local cinema and the film of choice was Castaway staring Tom Hanks. Like all romantics I paid for the tickets and we got popcorn (sweet of course) and a drink.

Everything went smoothly and I was a true gent but somehow Laura did manage to kick over the popcorn which was quite an effort.

I didn’t even try it on when it came to say goodnight and I must have made a good impression as 12 years later we’re still going strong a getting stronger.