Well, in five years time...

I was tagged by Christina at Fashion's Most Wanted... for a 'five years time' meme. Now, Christina is the town mouse to my country mouse. She absolutely lives the London life and it's there for us to see and live through vicariously on her blog.

Where were you five years ago?

Five years ago I was caring for a newborn baby. Boo 2 was born in April, so I would have been a month or so in. I wasn't wild on the newborn stage; in fact sadly it represented one of the most challenging times in my life so far. There were some bleak days around that time, so when I think now how far I have come, it makes me very happy that those days are behind me. The downside is that my recollection is marred by that experience and I worry that I have missed a lot of the joy that should come with little babies. I tell myself the baby stage is just one drop in the big ocean of motherhood...

I was on maternity leave from the corporate world, we had just bought our (in much need of renovation) farmhouse and Boo 1 had started school. So, imagine being at home a lot of the time with 30 year old brown linoleum and brown carpets and brown walls. What was the deal with decorating with brown in the early 80s?

Where would you like to be five years from now?

Five years from now I will be the other side of 40! I find it quite hard to envisage what I will be doing then. I work on a day-by-day, week-by-week basis and rarely think that far ahead. I am grateful every day for the way my life has panned out; I married my childhood sweetheart, we live in the town where we grew up, our kids are healthy, happy and are turning out to be really quite good fun. I have a job I enjoy that gives me (at least some of the time) a work/life balance. We have awesome friends. I work hard at life, but it pays dividends. So if I could say in five years time I had that feeling of contentment with life, then that would do for me. If my husband has his way we will spend some time between now and the living in another country. I should try this outlook on life and see what happens in five years...

What is on your to do list today?

Clear the stack of papers that have accumulated on my dining room table.
Try to catch up on my work email which at the moment is like a mountain to climb.
Book a pedicure, eye test, haircuts for the kids, sort out half term childcare, book kid's summer tennis club, sort out social calendar, send thank you notes, arrange a birthday party.
Get to the bottom of the ironing pile that is threatening to engulf us all...

What five snacks do you enjoy?

• Cheese - all kinds. I am a complete cheese freak
• Liquorice - it's a Danish thing.
• Fruit salad - I am the one who always falls for those ready-prepared melon and pineapple salads in Waitrose which probably have astronomic carbon footprints. I do love them though...
• Chocolate. The good stuff. Enough said.
• You will always find humous, taramasalata, tzatiki in my fridge...I'm into dips. Come to lunch at my house and you never know what combination you'll get...along with rye bread, olives and capers.

What would you do if you were a billionaire?

Money is a funny thing. Extreme wealth fascinates me in the same way that pure beauty does. When I see Gisele I wonder what it must be like to look in the mirror and see that face looking back. Similarly what must it be like to check your bank balance and see many, many zeroes in the black. Or to be able to buy anything you want...anywhere, anytime. Or to do everything in life first class, top drawer. But if I had pots of money, the key thing would be to bring friends and family with me, or else I figure it becomes an awfully lonely place.

The shallower side of me would love to do the most proper and outrageous shopping spree; to go crazy, throw complete caution to the wind, buy ANYTHING. But then I guess if I was a billionaire, even that activity might become old hat. Maybe the answer is to have more money, but not too much!

I pass this meme on the following intriguing blogs - where will you be in five years time?

Miss Sew and So
The Sardine Tin
She Wore it Well
The Ruby Blog