I have been a bad girl. A very bad girl. I deserve spanking, no-pudding-straight-to-bed-orders and a week without Gossip Girl. My unforgiveable sin: precious memes, tags and awards have been bestowed upon me by my beloved, fabulous and lovely bloggie friends, and I have not responded in an appropriate manner.

But I promise to be better!

Let’s start off with Icklebabe, who chose me to continue the Photo Meme. The rules:

1. Open your first (oldest) photo folder in your computer library.
2. Scroll to the 10th photo.
3. Post the photo and the story behind it.
4. Tag five or more people to continue the thread.

Et voila, the picture above is what my Mac came up with. My friend Julie (to the right) and me getting ready for a night out in Munich in 2004. Although we both had a pretty crappy time back then, we tried (and succeeded) in making the most of it. Fond memories!

I am passing the meme on to:

Home Office Mum
Hot Cross Mum
London Zest
Island Mum of 2 (3…)
A Rose beyond the Thames

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The ‘You are Welcome Meme’ has been given to me by Lisa at The Mummy Whisperer. She wrote this post when she was in the early stages of labour – I hope labour didn’t last as long as it took me to reply.
The rules: name three blogs you have recently discovered and enjoy reading. The newbies then name three blogs who name three blogs…

1. My dear friend Ginni moved from New York to Hong Kong and started a fabulous blog. She has a great sense of humour and not only am I happy to finally ‘see’ more of her, also do I think she’ll get a book deal in no time at all out of her blog Noodles and Lattes, so fabulous is her writing.
2. Emily who recently moved her family back from Bosnia to the UK also moved her blog and started afresh at Pants with Names. Welcome home, Emily!
3. And thirdly, I started to enjoy Margarita’s new blog Love and Bistros. It’s where I quench my thirst for finger-licking good chocolate chip cookie recipes.

A little later, this meme was also given to me by one of my favourite sites on the web, angels and urchins. Thanks!
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Next in the hall of fame: the happiness meme, generously given to me by Baking Mad Mama.

Rules: list 10 things that make you happy.

Big M & little L
Peonies
Cupcakes
Manicures
Sitting on the beach
Blogging
Bare feet
Sunshine on my skin
A walk in the park
Drawing

The problem with leaving these memes for too long is that you lose sight of who’s done what so far. Here’s hoping you haven’t done this one already:

Sara in Le Petit Village
The Lovelist
Lady Mama
James @ Man of the 50s
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It’s a mummy’s life passed on the ‘Favourite Song’ meme. That’s an easy one.

This song really makes me want to move. I know, I know, I have been talking about peace and quiet for my family. What about piece and quiet in New York then?

I am passing this meme on to Peggy at Perfectly Happy Mum. Come on, Peggy, share some of your French gems with us!

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The Sunshine Award was given to me by two of my all-time favourites: Lily Lemontree and A Place to Dwell. Thank you, you lovely ladies!

The rules:
1. Post the award on your blog
2. Link the person you received the award from.
3. Pass the award on to 12 of your favourite blogs and share the link to their blogs.
4. Let the bloggers know you have awarded them the award.

The award goes to…

Wife in the City
Northwest London Girl in the Country
40 Not Out
Looking Fab in Your Fourties
The Sardine Tin
Urban Mums
Three Kids and the Cat
The Alice
Social Climbers
Rosie Scribble
Reasons to be Cheerful
Notes from Inside My Head

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Tish at A Femme d’un certain age awarded me with the Sugar Doll Award. She’s such a doll! Merci, dear Tish, mon amie, please accept my apologies for leaving it so unfashionably late.

The rules: reveal ten things about yourself that your readers do not know already. Mhm. That’s going to be complicated. Is there anything I haven’t shared with you already? Let’s see…

1. I never had a pet.
2. Exception from #1 was the canary that found its way to me and died the same day.
3. I accidently cut off my mother’s little toe with a freestanding radiator.
4. About 100 years ago, I used to work as a model.
5. I also used to work as a flight attendant.
6. I visited three different primary schools.
7. And six secondary schools.
8. My teeth don’t have any fillings.
9. I once moved to Vienna to discover my Austrian roots and moved back to Germany three months later.
10. If little L had turned out to be a boy, his name would have been Linus.

And the award goes to:

A Place to Dwell
Being a Mummy
Deer Baby
Double Trouble
Dulwich Divorcee
Forty Not Out
Hibiscus
Maternal Tales
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The Grumpy Meme

Now, this meme has been passed on twice to me. Should I be appalled? Is the a (not so hidden) message Defective Tykewiter and London City Mum want to pass on to me?

The grumpy rules:
List seven things that make you grumpy. Pass on meme to five fellow grumps lovely bloggers.

1. Antisocial behaviour
2. Dog poo on the bugaboo’s wheels
3. The weather as it is at the moment
4. Rudeness
5. When I am lost for words in reply to other people’s rudeness
6. When the bottle of Champagne is done before I am
7. Big M coming home too late

The Grumpy Meme goes to:

Lily Lemontree
Very Bored in Catalunya
Lost in translation
Loo Boo’s and Shoes
Amy @ and 1 more means four

Still with me? Wow, that’s what I call stamina!