Open post of the week (Jan 18)

Hi Honey, I’m ho-ome. Back in the office after three weeks holiday and life is good. Did you get a break? We were away at the beach with friends down the road and I knew I was relaxed when on about day 2 or 3, I completely lost track of time and days of the week.  That, to me, is the definition of holiday.

The kids took a little longer to slide into holiday mode. My 6yo daughter – on the second day when I suggested we go to the beach was perplexed.

“AGAIN? But we’ve already BEEN to the beach!”

We had to work a little on expectations. I’m not one for lots of outings and adventures on holidays. I’m one for lots of time at home and mellowing out at the beach. But the ages of our kids (3, 6 & 14) worked particularly well this year – probably because everyone could independently operate an iPad. Helpful when Mummy is engrossed in How To Be A Woman by Caitlin Moran which has changed and crystalised the way I think about too many things to list in one post.

I got to the end of this book and went straight back to the beginning. I’m now reading it for the 3rd time. Soon, I will know it by heart. Run don’t walk if you haven’t read it already. It’s FUNNY and smart and should be compulsory reading for anyone with a vagina.

It’s my third day back in the office and I’m easing the transition from play to work by dressing in beach-mode. This is confusing my brain a wee bit but proving wildly entertaining for the MM Team who are amused by the brightly coloured parrot who is sitting at my desk, trying to remember how to multitask (you can see some examples in the MM Weekly gallery at the bottom of this post).

I’m quite enjoying not being able to do so many things at once. This go-slow brain thing is working for me, to be honest. I have no idea how I used to manage having 15 applications open on my desktop, toggling between 10 different website tabs and twitter and the back and front ends of MM.

How did I do that again? Oh well, it’s gone now. I’ll just focus on getting through the day without an afternoon nap.

One of my favourite things to do is paint my kids’ toenails – my daughter AND my son. Why the hell not? I’m a bit in love with this hilarious concept of male nail polish. Or Mail-Polish as it’s called.

Nail polish brand Alphanail has launched a range that’s just for males, with the tag line “Designed for men. Worn by warriors.”

The range features metallics, blacks and greys with names such as Cocaine, Gasoline and Burnin’ Rubber, and come as a click pen applicator so men don’t have to deal with “dainty little brushes and girly nail polish containers”.

Those at Alphanail reckon men will appear more masculine wearing ‘nail armour’ and even be more attractive to women. They also believe that “no self respecting man should ever have to buy cotton balls”, so they also sell nail-polish removing wipes in a manly, gun-metal tin.

And from the ridiculous to the sublime, check out this stunning album created by Josh and his sister Grace, which they originally uploaded here. It’s self-explanatory, really. Have a look…

And finally, take a look at what’s been happening around the office this week…

What’s on your mind?