Getting to know me…

I’ve been meaning to start my blog for ages, but I never really knew where to start, then I came across these 15 questions on Pinterest…

1. Do you have any nicknames?
Just Lynz, nothing exciting here, I have been called 'That Socksy Lady!' out and about though...

2. Are you named after anyone?
My dad told me I was named after the 70’s singer Lynsey de Paul, I can’t say I know any of her music though. He always told me my middle name was after one of Henry VIII's wives though I think he was just making up stories at that point (Catherine).

3. Do you have any siblings?
I do, I have twin sisters Amy and Wendy who are 5 years younger than me.

4. Where did you grow up?
I grew up in a little nowhere town called Heckmondwike in West Yorkshire. I passed the 11+ and went to Heckmondwike Grammar School

5. What were your favourite subjects at school?
Biology, Physics and Art – even though I left with a D for my art GCSE. My art teacher, Mrs King, was so old fashioned in her teaching, she wanted me to draw fluffy bunnies and hands and I wanted to draw gothic churches and graveyards haha… Even now I don’t think the D was a justified result!

6. Where did you go to college?
Dewsbury College in West Yorkshire where I did my BTec National Diploma in Childhood Studies. It wasn’t what I wanted to do, initially I wanted to be a funeral director, but school steered me away from that due to my age. I think their theory was that just as people are always dying, people are always being born…

7. What was your first job out of school?
Back in 1996 when I left school I had a student job at Morrisons Supermarket working on the salad bar. The uniform will forever haunt me with the nylon overalls, tabard and hair net – very sexy haha... There is one photo in existence I'll have to find it!

8. What kind of music do you like? First and foremost rock and metal, but I have a pretty eclectic music taste. In any one session I can go between happy hardcore and death metal with a little Mongolian throat music thrown in. You can follow me on Spotify here.

9. What’s one hobby that you’d like to take up?
Art, I’d love to be able to draw and paint, sadly whatever I do resembles a toddlers best work at nursery!

10. What’s the biggest project on your to-do list right now?
At the moment I’m just waiting for a beautiful fabric delivery so I can work on my side project, The Nameless Dolls. I’m planning on getting them made and ready for sale by Halloween!

11. Do you have any irrational fears?
I have 2 phobias – needles and aliens – I wouldn’t say the needles was irrational, but seeing as I work with them for a living it's kind of bizarre, the fear comes from some serious medical trauma which left me with PTSD (see Q13), but the aliens are definitely irrational, they’re not even forced to exist haha…

12. Have you ever travelled outside the country? If so, where?
Yep, I went to Ibiza when I was 26 – urghh. It was too hot, I don’t cope well in the sun, it makes me miserable, plus flying is just so unnatural you will never get me on a plane ever again. If I was ever to leave the country again it would be by boat!

13. Have you ever nearly died?
Yes, a few times! First when I was 10 years old, I got hit by a HGV crossing a road, fortunately I was tall for my age, and it broke every bone in my arm and not my head. Secondly, I got sepsis and MRSA back when I was 20, I spent over 6 weeks in hospital gravely ill, in and out of consciousness, on morphine. When I came out, I discovered I was 12 weeks pregnant with Lorna!

14. Do you have any children? I do indeed, I am a very proud single mum of 6 awesome (and very different) children between the ages of 3 and 20. Sadly we lost a little boy in 2015 who we named Rowan. He will always be with us...

15. Do you have any hobbies and interests?
A few…. I’m a bit of a geek really. In my downtime I play both video and board games. The kids are really into Minecraft, so we play that a lot. I’m all about Marvel too, especially Deadpool and Venom and most things sci-fi or fantasy. I also have an interest in anything occult and supernatural and I use various tools for divination.

Bonus Question - What’s next?
Next, I’m heading into the 2nd year of my degree (after passing my 1st year with a DISTINCTION - woop woop), I’m studying a BSc (Hons) in Psychology with Counselling through OU part time, as well as working on my business and raising my family. I have a few things coming up at Socksy Love before the end of the year, but first I want to put some time into my dolls project. I’m just an all-round busy lady building my little empire and trying to be the best role model I can for the kids.