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You know, the weather is starting to improve and it’s really funny how a spot of sunshine changes everything. It lifts the mood, it makes you feel great and it gets you thinking about holidays. Well, it got me thinking about summer holidays anyway; it might have had a different effect on you.

So, where to go  .. where to ? There are a million and one options, and we certainly have family to visit in Malta. But then there are other places that the kids would enjoy too. I’ve heard some great things about Mallorca from a friend of ours who stayed in one of those Pollensa villas. They had a great holiday there and one of the things they enjoyed was the fact that they had a self-catering arrangement. I quite like staying in a hotel and having all the comfort of someone else doing the beds, tidying up and doing the cooking and cleaning. But there’s something to be said about having the freedom to come and go as you please. And that’s a particularly good thing when you still have young babies who may wake up crying in the night and disturb other holiday makers.

Of course, there are other holidays that are just as attractive. Going skiing for example. Not that the babies are going to be skiing, but I can just imagine the twins would have a whale of a time. I know Arthur would really enjoy it. But really Summer is more about sun and sea for me, so maybe one of those Puerto Pollensa villas might be a better option.

So, here’s a question for you. What are you planning for this summer? Are you heading to the sea or are you heading to the mountains? Is it going to be surfing or skiing? I’d love to hear what you’re up to.

Here’s what I had to eat:

Here’s what I had

yaki soba, teppan-fried soba noodles with egg, chicken, shrimps, onions, green and red peppers, beansprouts and spring onions. garnished with mixed sesame seeds, fried shallots and pickled ginger; with a side order of Duck Gyoza, five deep-fried duck and leek dumplings, served with a spicy cherry hoi sin sauce

One of the yummiest things ever. I’m looking forward to trying more in the future. Here’s their menu.

It’s been many moons since I was involved in watching any football, but the mere thought brings back memories of school, watching games, the gentle jibes and trading of football cards. It was quite a polarised situation in Malta, with most fans split between supporting England or Italy. Then there was the Brazil faction, where I used to sit; and a smattering of people siding with the more esoteric teams.

It was with interest that I noticed that USA are in World Cup 2010. Not too sure how they’ll be doing. I’ve checked the World Cup odds and they’re down at 66/1 which aren’t good odds at all. Their first match is against England, so they may even get unstuck in the first round. Going back on my memories, I don’t seem to recall anyone siding with USA in the World Cup; there were more than enough teams to choose from and USA never seemed to have a good track record when it comes to football (or soccer as they might call it)

Anyway, times have changed, so I’m really not sure how much football I’ll be watching any time soon, but then the World Cup is the World Cup; and I do have been in a number of companies where, if England have a match, all the work comes to a stop so people can catch up on what’s going on. It’s in South Africa this year; so I don’t know if the matches will be played during the work day. We’ll see. In the meantime, I still haven’t decided who I’m going to be betting on.

Don’t get me wrong, we had our fair share of good nights out. And the great thing about them is that they tend to stick in your mind and you draw on those memories. Like a couple of years ago, when we went to Finland for Christmas. We had a great time, though Arthur was a bit too young to remember too much of it. Then there was the time we went to Paris, visited the Eiffel tower and went to EuroDisney. That was only last summer, so it’s still quite fresh in our memory. But before Arthur was even around, we spent some time living outside London and we do have some great memories from that period too.

The great thing about living in Staines was that we were only one train ride away from London. One particular evening that sticks in my mind was just the two of us heading into London; we went to Chinatown and stopped at a Chinese buffet. We then found an arcade in the corner called Quicksilver Games and spent the whole evening playing on slot machines. It was a great evening, and I don’t think we’ve ever hit the slots again in the same way; but it’s the sort of thing you carry around with you. It was an evening to remember and I’d recommend a visit to anyone looking for a good night out; … in the meantime .. there’s a baby crying upstairs …

We’re off to Malta for Christmas, but one can’t help but think about what we’re going to do this summer. The truth is that with a 4 year old and 2 babies, our options are a little limited. Flights are a bit of a drag, I’m sure we’ll learn all about that on our forthcoming trip to Malta.

But we do have another option. When we knew we had twins on the way, we did invest in a 7 seater, which means we can go on a driving holiday, and thanks to sea transport, well, all of Europe is really still an option for us. I’ve never actually crossed the English Channel on a ferry, but there are a number of ferries to france available to choose from, and with websites like www.ferry-to-france.co.uk its easy to have a look around and find the best deal. And crossing the channel is only the first part of the equation. Once you get to France, you can drive to Germany, Austria, Italy and a selection of other countries. I’ve been to a couple of European countries, but it would be quite fun to visit some others.

So, doesn’t look like I’ll be collecting many Airmiles in the near future, but my driving is going to get lots of practice.

Did you know for example that when it comes to making a good first-impressing at an interview, 90% of professionals believe that being well-groomed is important? Well, that’s a bit obvious your might think, but one thing I didn’t know is that male HR professionals are 75% more likely than females to consider facial stubble a red flag when meeting a job candidate. The bottom line is that 84% of HR professionals agree that well-groomed employees climb the corporate ladder faster than those who are not well groomed.

Interesting facts and figures aren’t they? Anyway, you can read about this and more down at the Gillette Resource Center where you can find the complete survey as well as a number of instructional videos on how to maximise your grooming (including the “How to shave your head” instructional video which you can see below and more)

	Oh wow! .. MAX is coming to visit the Isle of Man. I’m sure he’ll have a great time here. #gfi
	Popping home with MAX to get a change of shoes (can’t go to the beach with my work shoes can I?) #gfi
	I was going to take MAX to the theatre to catch a show, but it seems to be closed #gfi
	I took MAX for a walk in Groudle Glen, IMO one of the best walks in the Isle of Man (check out the watermill) #gfi
	We made a short detour and popped by Gansey beach. MAX enjoyed getting his toes wet. #gfi
	As we were heading back to Douglas, MAX from #gfi saw a lighthouse and wanted a photo. SNAP!
	And #gfi, here’s the best place to chill out in Douglas, listening to the waves on the prom!

If you think that’s fun, check out their competition!

Well, not quite now! .. But following that competition everyone voted for us in, I’ve found out that we’ve actually managed to get the top number of votes and therefore won the competition to go to Tuscany. That’s great news, but I don’t know the details, so not quite sure when we’re going. With twins on the way, we’ll either go sometime soon, or maybe leave it for next year. After all, Arthur’s only three and not sure if he can handle the twins on his own .. now when he’s four ….

Seriously though, I’m really chuffed that we won the competition, and shout outs go out to all the guys down at FuelMyBlog and LastMinute.com for putting the competition together. And of course, thanks to everyone who voted for us!

Tuscany … here we come!

Do you have a dog? Does he stink? Well, what you need is a DogOsuds, a special dog shampoo that’s bound to give your dog that “New Dog Smell”. It’s by a company called Dinovite who specialise in pet shampoos, treatments and supplements.

If you don’t have a dog, i guess you can’t appreciate how important a good shampoo like this is. Well, a couple of months ago, we were looking to buy a car and went to see one. The car looked fine, but it really, really, stank of dog. Who knows, if they were using the shampoo above, the car may not have smelt so bad. We ended up not buying the car, but it would have needed a top class valeting to get the smell out. Better if they had invested in some dog shampoo.

Anyway, the shampoo promises that it’s a natural flea repellent, and that it doesn’t contain any chemicals, fragrances or fillers that may irritate your dog’s skin, it’s also guaranteed to remove skunk smell; though I’m curious to find out how that would be a problem for anyone.

Anyway, if you’re in the market for some dog shampoo, check it out.

All you have to do is click on the picture to go to the competition website, find our photo and give us your vote. Easy peasy .. so go on, what are you waiting for?

(The competition is only running for a few days, till Sunday 12th, so please tell everyone you know to pop by and give us a vote)

p.s. If clicking on the photo doesn’t take your the Gallery to vote, just go to the bottom of the page and click “Gallery”. You’ll have to find our photo (seen above) in the Gallery and vote for us! We’re not that hard to find!