I always find Mother's Day quite difficult as all I want is to see my mum and have a big cuddle yet there are around 10,635 miles between us. I'm in Cardiff and she's in Australia. Even though we are miles apart there's a certain smell that makes me think she is right back next to me. One whiff of Vanilla and/or sea salt and we are walking along the beach together again. For aslong as I can remember she has always been into floral scents with our family home smelling of Vanilla, giving off that relaxed, clean, calming, beach vibe. When she emigrated to Australia her love for that scent only intensified and whenever I do get to visit her, that smell is everywhere. She even now wears perfume that smells like it.
For Mother's Day I've written her this love note about what that scent means to me:
Dear Mum,
This Mother's Day will be the 11th I haven't spent with you. The 11th where I haven't been able to hand you a card, present you with flowers, wrap up your favourite perfume and place it all on a tray with a huge mug of tea and smashed avocado on toast.
I wish I was there with you. I wish I was in your spotlessly clean house, waking up to the sunshine and feeling it warm my skin. I wish I was walking around having the scent of Vanilla wrap itself around me making me feel happy, calm, relaxed and most of all, at home.
I fill my own home with that scent. My washing detergent, my candles, my reed diffusers, my shower gels and perfumes all smell of you and it feels like the giant cuddle from you I so desire.
I've always loved you mum, but since you've been far away from me and I have moved onto a life without you as an adult and becoming a mother, I have realised just how much you have done for me and all the memories, love and wisdom you have provided me with.
I feel that we have become closer since we have been separated, perhaps absence makes the heart grow fonder and it makes those family moments even more special.
Since being in Australia you've taught me the importance of outdoor family life and to grasp these moments as much as possible. Walks on the beach with my girls, your granddaughters are good for the soul. As we walk and run hand in hand and breathe in that salty, sea air we are transported back with you. I close my eyes, I inhale that aromatic, distinctive smell and instantly feel like we are on an Australian beach. Sand between our toes, sun beating down on our skin, the smell of coconut sun tan lotion engulfs us and we are happy with you, safe with you, free with you.
Until we see each other again, I will cling to that scent this Mother's Day and every day.
All my love,
Kerry
I always look for perfumes that provide me with that scent and I always buy them from the huge range of women's perfumes at Boots.
What are your favourite perfumes and scent notes? Are you floral, spicy, woody or citrus? Let me know in the comments below.
*This post is an advertisement feature with Boots UK but all thoughts are my own*
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Do your little ones love playing board games? Are you one of those families that spend their spare time holed up at home challenging each other to round after round of the board game the kids are currently addicted to? If the answer is yes, then you’ve come to the right place.
Playing board games - from Monopoly to chess - can be a great way to kill time as a family and enjoy a fun-filled afternoon together. However, after a while board games can begin to become somewhat tiresome and the kids can begin to get bored.
The solution is simple: incorporate some board game hacks. Shake things up by implementing a number of basic board game hacks. In need of a few ideas? Check out the guide below to all of the best board game hacks that you - and your children - should know!
Tips for Monopoly
Dubbed the ‘fast-dealing property trading game’, Monopoly is anything but fast, especially when you’re playing with little ones. This game was introduced in the early 1930s, in a period where televisions didn’t exist, and families had hours spare on the weekends to sit and play board games, because that was, quite literally, all there was to do. This meant that attention spans were a little different to those of modern families.
To shorten the game and make it more enjoyable, why not create your own Monopoly house rules for your family to abide by? A common variant of Monopoly rules is to have all of the money collected from players for taxes and other payments be given to the first player who lands on ‘Free Parking’. Another hack you could incorporate is to allow any player who lands on a railroad space to “travel” to any other railroad square on the board.
Hacks for Scrabble
Scrabble is another game that can go on forever and ever, and can be a complete and utter nightmare when you’re playing with little ones. To speed the game up, some families opt to play with stop watches being used, to reduce the time that players have to come up with words. Another way to add a little fun to your game is to play ‘made up words Scrabble’ where players have to use made up words and then define them to the other players. Another hack to speed up game play is to allow players to use a random word generator where the letters they have can be added to the system and it then generates a number of suitable words that could be made up of those letters.
Tricks for Operation
Another popular family game, Operation can be altered to make it a little more fun and reduce boredom. Some players opt to increase the level of buzz that is received when making a mistake and touching the sides, swapping the buzz for a real life electric shock. Although, this hack probably isn’t a great idea if you’re playing with little ones. One option for changing things up could be to give each player a pile of paper clips - or money, if you’re feeling brave - and for each buzz the player gets, a predetermined number of paper clips - or coins - are lost.
Get creative with game play and you will find that there are a number of ways that you can make things more interesting for everyone.
*This is a collaborative post*
Life after an accident may never be the same as it was before the accident. We, human beings, are creatures of habit. When a sudden event such as an accident disrupts our routine, we have a hard time coping and adjusting.
Indeed, by defining, an accident is a traumatic situation that affects your body. The healing process can take a very long time. Additionally, while there may be a recovery process, there is no guarantee that your body can heal itself to its initial condition. Furthermore, the accident also impacts on your mental health, creating stress, fear, and even long-lasting disruptions that transform your everyday life. Dealing with the aftermath of an accident is not something that should be taken lightly. Regardless of the severity of the injuries – or even if there is no visible, physical injury –, it is crucial to take your time to manage the traumas on the body and the mind. Life after an accident could be hell if you fail to address those traumas.
It can dramatically change your mobility
When you’re involved in an accident, your body can get hurt. Some injuries will be life-changing or even life-threatening. Others, if you are more fortunate, can heal over time. However, regardless of the type of injuries you’ve sustained, there is no denying that they will affect your mobility, even if it is only a temporary disruption. When this happens, your everyday life is affected. You are left unable to work, which means that you can lose your primary income. Aside from insurers and health specialists, the legal experts you want by your side are lawyers who can help you get fair compensation for your accident. Indeed, you need financial support to address the lifestyle changes that your injury has caused.
Your body may never recover
Nobody wants to think of the worst-case scenario, but it would be foolish to assume that you can get your health back after a severe accident. Some people can heal and recover fully. However, others might struggle with a variety of issues, such as chronic pain long after the broken bones have mended. Unfortunately, chronic pain can sometimes be caused by the memory of the pain that is stored in your nervous system. As a result, your body develops a constant perception of pain. Learning to live with chronic pain is difficult, and many try a combination of painkillers and alternative medicine to cope. It’s important to learn to take it slowly and not to push your body, which forces you to transform your routine dramatically.
Your mind relives the accident
Even when the body has healed, the mind could still suffer from the accident. It’s not uncommon to develop PTSD or other stress disorder after being involved in a crash. For a lot of people, the issue can be difficult to overcome without appropriate therapy. In a society where it’s impossible to get anywhere without a car, PTSD anxiety and fear of driving can make it difficult for you to get around or even to lead a normal life.
Life after an accident may never be the same. But learning to accommodate for the differences and to recognise the triggers for pain or stress can help you rebuild your life. The first and most important thing you need to learn is that different doesn’t mean worse. It means changing to give yourself the best chance of achieving your goals. Embrace change to move forward.
*This is a collaborative post*
If you have been running a small business from the comfort of your own home for the last few years and it has seen some great success, you may have decided that now is the time for you to take your business to the next level.
The issue you may be facing is that taking a leap such as this is far from an easy one, and you are going to need as much help as you can get along the way on this challenging journey.
In this post, we are going to be looking at some of the fundamental considerations you are going to need to make when taking your small business to the next level. Some of our suggestions may seem simple, and others may seem pedantic, but you must remember, it’s these things that will strengthen your business in the long term and ultimately define your success.
Image Credit - Pexels CC0 Licence
Why Change?
One of the most important things you can do as a small business is to set your ambitions high. Of course, there are some smaller businesses out there that are more than happy to stay as they are and continue to work from home.
If you have always dreamed a little bigger than that, and if you feel it’s viable, then go ahead and take the leap of faith into something bigger. There are things you will need to consider as you go along your way, but providing you take our advice in the later sections, you may see your business become a profitable one.
While there are many people out there that think small home businesses don’t grow into anything, they should realize that pretty much every successful empire on the planet started in the same way. Whether it’s Apple or Amazon, they all began in one small room, and over time aspiration took over, and they became huge.
Find A Location
The first thing you will need to look at if you are looking at expanding your operations is where you are going to work from. If this is something you have already considered, then the chances are that you have been looking at offices both big and small local to you and found that they are more expensive than you may have thought.
What you may not have also taken into account is that you will need to add on some rates to the rental of your office and then your phone line and internet. When you add all of these things up, they really make a figure that can be scary.
So, what’s the answer to this? Well, it’s actually quite a simple one. Why don’t you take a look at shared office solutions? Sharing a complex is an amazing way forward, and it’s the most logical step if you are just taking your business out into the world.
Shared complexes generally have a flat rate charge that will include all bills, and you will have all the room you need. More than this, you will find that the atmosphere in these buildings is a brilliant one to get your business off to the best possible start.
Find A Team
As your business has found its feet, it may have now found a need for an extra employee or two. Now you have your office ready to go, bringing somebody in as an employee can be one of the best things you can do to boost your business.
Hiring staff is the only way you are going to be able to extend your operation in the early days without putting too much strain on yourself and eventually dealing with burnout. While hiring your first employee may be an exciting time, there is so much you are going to need to consider during the process, and it’s imperative that you do it properly.
In the early stages, you should be putting together an interview that will help you work out the strongest candidates as quickly as possible. For most employers, this will often be all they do before hiring, but as this is your first rodeo, you should be taking greater care than this.
While it may be a more costly thing initially, you should be running background checks, asking for three references, and also contacting companies like coal board medical to run pre-employment checks.
While this may seem a little extreme, this will give you the best possible insight into the person you are hiring, and it will also let you know that you are making the right decision. The last thing you will need to do as a part of the hiring process is to do with your employment contracts.
Most employers fail to recognize the importance of a good employment contract, so let us make things very clear from the start. The employment contract is there to protect the employer more than the employee.
Not only should you have your contract template drawn up by somebody with legal knowledge, but you should also ask somebody with employment law qualifications to give it the once over and ensure that it’s watertight.
We are aware that we may have made things sound a little daunting, but the truth is, taking your business to a brand new level is going to produce many challenges. The good thing is that once you have put a few months into the detail of getting this part of your business right, you will soon be on your way to amazing things.
Hopefully, you will take on both of the pieces of advice we have furnished you with today and use them as part of your growth strategy. You can use these as your starting point, and when you move on from here, things will start to flow naturally, before you know it, your big city business will be in full swing.
*This is a collaborative post*
There are certain times when almost all of us set conscious goals for ourselves. When we start applying for jobs, for example. Or, when it’s time to come up with New Year’s resolutions.
For the most part, though, the majority of us tend to make it through our everyday lives without really defining our goals or dreams in any clear or detailed way. In the short term, this can seem to reduce stress, since we have less to worry about. In the long term, though, it can present a bunch of different problems.
Here are some great reasons to define your goals and dreams.
Because if you don’t know where you want to get to, you’ll likely just wander aimlessly
Every so often you hear comments from people romanticising the idea of “going with the flow.” What doesn’t get brought up as much as it should, though, is that “going with the flow” is another way of saying “following the path of least resistance.”
The path of least resistance, it turns out, rarely goes anywhere great, and often doesn’t go anywhere much at all.
Defining your goals and dreams gives you a point to work towards. It allows you to undertake the process of carving out your own destiny, instead of just letting things happen to you. In other words, it gives you a destination on the map so that you don’t have to just wander aimlessly.
Because life is a lot more exciting and motivating if you are pursuing things that matter to you
Everyone, ultimately, wants their life to be meaningful, exciting, and motivating. They want, in other words, to feel like jumping out of bed each morning.
But what actually makes people want to jump out of bed in the morning? Usually it will be a sense of anticipation for something positive or desirable that the day promises to hold.
Life is always a lot more exciting and motivating if you are pursuing and looking forward to things that matter to you. When you define your dreams and goals, you create that kind of positive meaning in your life that can dramatically increase your enthusiasm as a whole.
Because you’ll never know what you could have, unless you “ask”
Most of us have some murky, undefined idea of the kinds of things we’d really love to have in life, but if we keep those dreams half-formed, we will likely never know if we actually could have had them or not.
Often in life, defining goals and dreams, and “asking” for what you want can take you a long way and can leave you feeling happily surprised.
A dream home may seem unobtainable, for example. But after speaking to some residential architects about your specific ideas, you may find that there is actually a path for you to get the home of your dreams after all.
One thing is for sure in any case; you miss 100% of the shots you don’t take.
*This is a collaborative post*
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