3 Miles of Smiles, Chat and Tea

Surely it's worth sponsoering a quid just for wearing the wigs!

I’m not sure of the focus of this blog today as it has been a pretty awesome day for many reasons. (I'm also not too sure for a title for it either!)What started out as a fund raising event has turned into so much more and a blog seemed a fitting way to capture my thoughts of the day and those involved.

It started with a charity walk for Macmillan, a charity who cares for and supports those living with cancer. It was a walk of only 3 miles but it was the first time this event had taken place for this charity. But I’m sure not the last!

Kick off was 11am at a pub for registration and collection of our t shirts to wear on the walk. The sun was shining on this fabulous mid October morning and it was warm! Pretty good considering when I got up at 7 there was a frost covering the ground! The sea was a gorgeous blue and there was not a cloud in the sky; perfect for a coastal walk from Brighton Marina.

Not bad for Mid October!!! Brighton Marina Oct 14th 2012

14 of us took part in our group plus 2 dogs and a friend’s little girl. We chatted, took pics, laughed, met other people, chatted some more, drank tea, laughed some more and had a thoroughly good time whilst raising money.

On finishing the walk, we received a medal and a certificate as well as wearing big smiles for our sense of achievement. That smile has not disappeared. People’s generosity has seen to that.

We did it!!!!!

When I got home, I had discovered that Number 1 Son had cleaned the house from top to bottom; loaded and turned on the dishwasher, shiny kitchen and hoovered- the 8 legged beastie that has been under a book for the last 4 days has now gone.  Yay! Hubby will be pleased when he gets home from work and I’m beaming because I don’t have to do it! Thank you! I’m now cooking No 1 Son his favourite dinner! What a lovely home coming. Not that 3 miles tired me out, but I thought No 1 Son did this for me. . . . Sadly not . . . . . He wanted it nice and sparkly for his dad when he got home.  

Then, with only 3 quid to go from hitting our target, a school girl donated from her pocket money. It just blew me away.

And then, a very dear friend whom I have never met made a donation. I came across this person through blogging, well writing really and from then on she has become one of my greatest supporters when it comes to my work. It amazes me how you can create such strong friendships without actually having ever met; such is the power of the written word! And to think when I first saw 5 sentence fiction, I ummed and arred about entering. But glad I did with ‘Wicked’ as I have met some truly wonderful writers and friends.

And to top it off, our target of money raised for the charity walk has long been busted and it keeps rising!

I think doing the walk as a group has really helped; we all know the same people for a start which can make raising money tricky if doing it individually. There’s only so much to go round and being skint is part and parcel of life right now for many of us; which just makes the giving more amazing!!

So thank you to my fellow walkers who made today such fun! Thank you to all the people who have sponsored us. Thank you to all those who have pledged to sponsor us on payday. Thank you to No 1 son for cleaning!! And thank you Macmillan Nurses for doing what you do. You’re amazing!

Love Me. xx

Me and the Mad American. xxx

 http://www.justgiving.com/Angela-Manvell   Visit our page. It's open for the next few weeks. xxx

The Final Countdown!!!!!

There are times when you have a fab idea for a blog post and the words just flow which is fantastic. There are, however, times when you do not have an idea but you know you want to write as you’re in the mood to share and this is one of those times. It’s not that I do not have an idea. It’s just I have already written two blog posts on the subject so I thought about what else is happening in my world. And it just so happens that it is coming up to the summer holidays which means winding down at work and indeed is the final countdown to summer (if the sun can join us, that would be awesome).

So here is the Final Countdown to the glorious six weeks off . . . . . .

1.     We had our end of term works do last night and it was a pub quiz which was awesome. Now loyal and regular blog followers will know that the pub quiz is a mixed bag for my team because we were sad at coming second from last and not getting the booby prize but gobsmacked at coming third and second because we’re usually so dire. Well last night we had high expectations as last year, we actually won! We argued, debated, over though, laughed, drank, ate and argued some more. We had the advantage of having The Mad American on our team so when we asked about the biggest state in America, she said Texas which I said too. But I’m not American. Someone else had their wits about them and said Alaska which actually was right. There were some other dumb arse questions about America and we got them all wrong! In fact, if we didn’t over think most questions, we would have probably won as we were second by only three points! The drink didn’t help either!

2.    Change! A part of life but I hate it. And every summer, we have this huge change of kids leaving, moving class, new peeps to work with and tying up loose ends. It’s a funny few days filled with parties, gifts and tears during the leaver’s assembly.

3.    Preparing to cook up a storm. There is a whole new world to the end of the summer term. The generosity of the gifts from the kids is amazing. And the shops have cottoned on; filled with Best teacher/Teaching Assistant for at least a month now. Being a baker, I like to be creative this time of year and give a treat handmade by me. It says so much more. Especially when Hubby sees the state of the kitchen. Which brings me to . . .

4.       Hubby! He is not happy at No 1 Son being around for six weeks and worse, me being around demanding the usual day’s out, pub lunches and togetherness! He likes his ‘me time’ of which is going to be nonexistent. Obviously No 1 Son will be doing his own thing and will come home when hungry or skint or both! So Hubby, on your days off its ‘Hasta la vista, baby’ to the Xbox 360!  

5.       The sun! And I don’t mean the Murdoch rag. I’m talking about the biggest star in the sky and its shyness so far this summer. Generally by now, I’ve been wilting in the heat, even melting. This time I’ve been getting soaked nearly every day either walking to work or walking home and don’t even get me started on the stress involved in trying to dry the washing out on the line! Usually by August, the rain comes and makes for a rather miserable summer. However, seeing as we have that already, I am hoping that the sun will come to the great summer party of six weeks off and I am counting down the days and counting on that jet stream to bugger off! And do you know why we have the jet stream hanging over us? America has a heatwave which is causing it. So for us to have our summer, America needs to lose there's so the jet stream does bugger off. Sorry Mad American. The garden needs my sun lounger and I need to finish reading Wicked and try to cope with the 50 Shades drivel; in the sun!!

6.       My lovely friend will be leaving me again. Every summer, The Mad American goes home to New York State and every summer, I see her before she goes, get really sad and become a Facebook-a-phobe because she has better things to do.  She’s counting down the days to glorious American sunshine and I’m slowly counting down the days until she goes. L However, she does bring back peanut butter M&M’s which are awesome. I so should have been born American although Hubby said if I was, I’d be the size of Alaska- which is the biggest state my Mad American friend, not Texas. (See above pics).

7.       The 30 day #BlogFlash for August 2012! I said YES!!! 100 words each day on a different prompt! Will I do it? You’ll have to keep your eyes peeled to find out . .

And that is it, I think. My little countdown to lazy summer days, busy family fun and becoming ‘Ladies what Lunch’ as we get together for relaxing summer gossip over a Spritzer and a Pimms.

Happy summer all and let’s give a big shout out to that beautiful, much needed summer accessory; the sun!  

Love Me xxxx

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