Please Register To Vote

Today is the last day that you can register to vote.  It takes five minutes.  This has not been so important for many a year and hence the reason why I am writing this post today, along with many other bloggers under the hashtag #NotThe33

In the last election in 2015, only 66.1% turned out to vote.  That means that 33.9% of the population left the state of the nation to chance and other people's voices and opinions drowning out their own.

There are a lot of people who are not interested in politics.  They think that whomever ends up in government will be mostly the same as any others; so why bother.  I used to be one of those people.  But then I started reading the occasional news story and my response was an ever increasing "What the hell?  WHAT THE HELL?"

I started to read more and more, looking more into the views and stances of the various political parties, especially given the rise of UKIP and I found myself becoming more and more political.  When the BNP had political aspirations it was laughable.  Everyone knew that thugs were not going to get into parliament, even with my knowing at least one person who had voted for them.

But then UKIP emerged with the odious Nigel Farage pegged as "the working man's politician" and everything changed.  Although UKIP are not a party that will gain anything meaningful in this election, many of its voters have moved to the Conservatives.

I am not going to tell you how to vote or even ask you to vote for one party or another.  All I ask is that YOU VOTE.  We are now into the two long years of negotiations for Brexit and we need the right party there speaking for us.  But this isn't just about Brexit.  This is about the lives of the British people and those who choose to come to our country to work.

It was not a requirement in writing this post to share who you are voting for.  But I am happy to share my particular vote, which will be Labour.

While I am not a particular fan of Jeremy Corbyn, I believe in the policies that Labour have put forward in their manifesto.  I believe that Labour are for the people, all of the people, unlike the Conservatives who are blatantly for only for the rich.

I cannot vote for a party that want to continue the £9000 a year tuition fees for students.

I cannot vote for a party that want to take pensioner's winter allowance away from them (plus how much is this means testing going to cost? That has not been specified)  One Daily Mail reader suggested putting hot water bottles next to windows??

I cannot vote for a party that want to take away free school lunches from pupils who for some, is the only hot meal they have that day.  Any savings gained by offering breakfast is laughable considering that schools will have to employ more staff and pay more hours in order for this to happen.  Which comes of their ever decreasing funding.

I cannot vote for a party that want to reinstate fox hunting.  A blood sport where foxes are ripped to pieces for people's entertainment after hunting them to exhaustion.  There is no argument that justifies this.  

I cannot vote for a party that wants to make the elderly pay for their own care, after their death by taking their houses.  What happens to the many family members who move in with their relatives to provide that care and then have nowhere to live?

There are many other examples but frankly, we would be here all day.

You cannot look at this election and think only about immigration, which I know is a factor for many.  But the truth of the matter is that we need immigrants.  As one example, we do not have enough doctors or nurses.  FACT.  The Conservatives have already taken away nurse's bursaries enabling them to study and don't get me started on how they treat our doctors.  EU Immigrants put 20 billion more into the system than they take.  FACT.

But regardless of what you think of immigration, this cannot be your own only reason for voting.  Look at the manifestos in their entirety or even just the main points.  The most important thing is to VOTE.

Can You Become A Morning Person?

Can you become a morning person?  If you had asked me that ten years ago, the answer would have been a resounding no.  I have always become more alive at night, groggy in the mornings.  Ten years ago and beyond people knew not to even approach me before 10.30am.

These days I have improved a lot, people can now approach me with safety haha, but I still struggle to get up in the morning and I would like to be able to accomplish a lot more.  So I thought that I would share some of the things that I have been doing to improve my mornings.

First things, first plan your morning the night before.

If you struggle to function in the mornings, organising yourself and the things you need to accomplish is somethings (always) hard.  One of the things that I make part of my evening routine is to organise my morning routine.

I chose my outfit the night before and get it out ready.  I take out the makeup that I will be using and lay it out on a chest of drawers ready to be used.  I put my skincare routine out ready in the bathroom (within morning stumbling distance) and put my coffee things out ready in the kitchen.  I am still working on having breakfast in the morning but haven't accomplished that yet.

Next, set yourself up to be ready for sleep.

This is a hard one for me as I live with my mum and my bedroom is used as sitting room, lounging room and bedroom.  Depending on what I am doing the next day, I aim for a time that I want to go to bed and turn off the television at least half an hour before.  I try to read some of whatever book I have on my bed stand for the remaining time as I find this relaxing.  I also ensure not to eat anything at least three hours before I want to go to bed. 

Be comfortable and supported

When my very old mattress needed replacing a couple of years ago, I made the mistake in not investing in a good mattress.  I bought a cheap one, thinking that anything would do, and subsequently spent the next six months uncomfortable and with disturbed sleep.

I invested in a decent pocket sprung mattress and suddenly I was sleeping through the night without waking up, having to adjust to become more comfortable.  I think I paid around £250 and I am happy in the knowledge that it should last me 7-8 years.

Finally, and this is something that I will talk about in a future blog post, I have recently bought a morning sidekick journal which aims, within 66 days, to make you in a morning person.  I will let you know about my progress.

In the meantime however, I have become involved with the Bed Guru's #SpringOutofBed campaign.  They have offered me the opportunity to give away a fabulous breakfast hamper, shown below, which has lovely things like smoked salmon, croissants and fruit preserves.  You can check out the hamper here:

You can enter the competition below:

a Rafflecopter giveaway

*In collaboration with Bed Guru.

Corsodyl Ultra Clean Review

Everyone is scared of the dentist. How could you not be?  Someone poking and prodding around in your mouth, with hooks and drills and god only knows what.

I have always been lucky with my teeth.  I've never needed a filling and up to a around four years ago, had never had anything that needed doing apart from a scrape & polish.  My gums though have always had issues, compounded by the fact that I smoke, which disguises many of the symptoms, such as bleeding gums.

Four years ago I had a tripping accident which led to a tooth extraction.  Without telling you all in the ins and outs of what happened, within 10 minutes of getting into the dentist's chair I was out of the practice, sans tooth and with the anesthetic running down my throat, making me lose all feeling.

I had a full on panic attack and had to ring my sister to come and get me.  It was not the dentist's fault.  They have so little time to allot to each patient and the anesthetic going my throat was just bad luck.

After that, every dentist appointment was a nightmare for me.  I knew that I had gum disease and as such, deep cleaning scrapes were needed every time.  The dentist frequently had to tell me to breath as I would be turning blue in panic and eventually, I was having panic attacks.  Eventually this led to me stopping going to the dentist at all.

A year ago I got to the point where I knew that I had major issues with my gums.  I could feel a large pocket behind one of my front teeth and in terror of losing my tooth, I tried to make an appointment at my dentist.  Safe as to say, with no attendance for three years, I had been taken off the patient list.

Now I am with a private dentist.  The difference between the NHS and private practice is noticeable, in that the dentists and hygienists are able to spend extra time with you and are much, much better if you have a real terror of the dentist.  That is not the fault of the NHS dentists, they simply are not given enough time to see their patients.

My gums are improving all the time.  I do have pockets behind all of my teeth but thanks to deep clean scrapes, which I no longer feel thanks to injections and the amazing Wand, these are getting better.  It is expensive, but I no longer have panic attacks when the hygienist comes near my mouth.

My dentist recommended that I use interdental brushes called Tepe brushes, which have really helped with removing plaque before it begins to attach to your teeth.  My dentist also recommended recently that I start using Corsodyl Ultra Clean toothpaste which is clinically proven to be four times more effective in reducing the build up of plaque bacteria.

I have been using this toothpaste for the past three weeks and I have really noticed a difference with my oral health and am on my way to getting pearly white teeth.  Along with using the Tepe brushes which I have been using for many months now, my mouth and gums feel much cleaner and my mouth feels very fresh every time I brush my teeth.

Unlike previous versions of Corsodyl which I have tried before, this toothpaste has a much better taste to.  It still does taste like something medical rather than minty, but the harsh taste of the previous toothpastes has been eradicated.

Overall, I would really recommend this toothpaste to help stop and prevent bleeding gums and to assist people with gum disease.


*This product was gifted to me but all thoughts (and gums!) are my own