Gone are the days …

Yes, gone are the days when a Friday night was drunken, debauched and (thankfully) difficult to remember! These days, instead of fighting my way to the bar, you’ll find me sat peacefully at my laptop writing my blog, with one eye on … wait for it … DIY SOS! If it wasn’t for the large glass of red wine by my side and, come to mention it, the bottle next to that, I’d worry I was properly middle-aged! And I’m not even 40 yet.

Anyway, as Nick Knowles is not as good viewing as he might like to think, I thought I’d update you on a few things that have been going on in my world. Firstly, I forgot to tell you that I went to my first Ladies who Latte meeting the other day. Bit of a bizarre experience to start off with as there was only one other woman there - I was just about to do a runner when she spotted me and then there was no getting away! But as it turned out, I met several really interesting people and it only cost me a coffee, so think I will definitely go again. After all, the networking ‘experts’ say that it’s about relationships rather than referrals, so even though I don’t need a luxury black coach, a wedding photographer, a caterer or an image consultant right now (okay, that last one’s debatable!), who knows what might happen in future?!

As the Mummo website is beginning to take shape, slowly but surely, I’m starting to think more about how to spread the word once it’s live. For example, I’m contemplating attending the Prowess conference in February next year, but then there’s also One Life Live and The Baby Show and The Business Start Up Exhibition … and I can’t do everything! Or can I …?

Perhaps coaching would help me to make some of these decisions? And to challenge my limiting beliefs?! Striding Out offer monthly coaching circles where you get together with a handful of other entrepreneurs to share your business challenges, bounce ideas around and generally pick their brains. Sounds great, but it costs … and of course it also means trekking into London. I still remember the first time I did that, just after the nanny had started working for us and I’d finally got a bit of freedom back. It was a magical experience back then … but I have to admit that the novelty has slightly worn off now!

Really don’t want to complain, though, partly because I’m still attempting to live in ‘Pollyanna’ mode, and partly because I’ve just read an article about Aung San Suu Kyi, the Burmese freedom fighter, in January’s Easy Living magazine. I’m ashamed to say that I’d never heard of her before, but I am now in awe of her courage and the incredible personal sacrifices she’s made for what she believes in. She effectively gave up her husband and sons in order to fight for justice for the Burmese people, and that is something that not many people could or would do. I can’t imagine what cause would ever prompt me to give up my children, but I guess in the end it’s all about keeping the bigger picture in mind. Food for thought.

Didn’t really mean to get quite so profound, especially as it now feels inappropriate to go and stuff my face with Jaffa Cakes. But there you go, life sometimes seems like one great big confusing muddle of chaos and contradictions. I’m sure that somewhere in the midst of it all is the little peace of calm that you find at the eye of a storm, but hey, right now, I’m loving the mess round the edges. And my quest for mindfulness continues …

Enterprising women …

Got invited to a ‘do’ the other night! Not quite sure who invited me, but I thought I might as well go anyway. Where? To the ‘Celebrating Enterprising Women’ event run by Finance South East to celebrate the end of their ‘Funding Enterprising Women’ programme. It started out as one of those fairly horrific scenarios with lots of people milling around the room supposedly ‘networking’, whilst also trying to carry a cup of coffee, a piece of cake, a handbag and a laptop bag! I didn’t know a single soul and didn’t particularly feel like meeting anyone … so spent quite a while studying the various bits of literature on offer! Interestingly enough, I then joined a workshop all about the importance of networking, only to find that most of the other women there felt exactly like me. We all had plenty of ideas as to how networking needs to change in order to become less intimidating and more useful to us, like perhaps, to start with, calling it something different! Maybe we should just have ‘coffee mornings’, rather than networking breakfasts, lunches and dinners? After all, there’s nothing worse than trying to elegantly combine talking and eating! I guess that’s the idea behind Ladies who Latte and the Athena Network’s Cappuccino Connections. Must try them out one of these days, instead of always sloping off to Starbucks by myself!

Having said that, Starbucks is fast becoming my own little sanctuary. Went there with my littlest one yesterday afternoon after a night of no sleep and a day of tantrums, hers and mine. With tear-stained faces we made our way in there, ordered a grande decaf americano for me and a giant chocolate chunk cookie for both of us (or at least, so I thought at the time!) and then collapsed into two big velvet armchairs in a dark and cosy corner. And hallelujah, the day was saved!