Flipping Tough

So it would seem that weekly blogs are becoming the thing for me at the moment, perhaps I just don't have enough crap to write about every single day

Ok so let's start with a depression update.  It's safe to say that the medication I am taking is giving me the side effects of insomnia and weight loss. So I'm absolutely shattered most days but look awesome with my shirt off ;-) 

I've been taking antidepressants for around 7 weeks now and honestly wonder why I didn't start earlier.  Ok so life is tricky at the moment for previously mentioned reasons but things have and are continuing to improve a lot.  In myself I am actually feeling awesome most days. I guess my concern is one day coming off the medication but that's some way off and doesn't need to be thought about right now 

So let's talk about this week....

A few months ago my manager at work suggested that our team should go out for breakfast or lunch together, a bonding experience.  Now I love food, like really love food, but I can eat at anytime (and do) so I thought it would be good to do something a little different....and you know the old motto 'a team that trampolines together stays together' 

And so it was that at 5:30 on Monday we descended on Flip Out in Chandlers Ford.  I don't know if you've ever been to one of these new fangled trampolining centres but they are generally filled with children, and worse than that, children that can do backflips, front flips, and all the other things you really wish you weren't 20 years too old to attempt.  But not on Monday. On Monday there were 7 of us from work and 3 other people there.  It was so quiet in fact that we had nearly 90 minutes of bouncing....now I'm sure you'll agree that nobody would be disappointed with that

My intention leading up to the day had been to learn how to backflip, basically because I wanted to be a bloody show off in front of my colleagues.  To say my success was limited would be a massive exaggeration.  Essentially on arrival I had two skills, bouncing up and down, and falling over.  But. And it's a big but, by the time we left I could 'happily' do front flips, both into the foam pit (well they were more 1 and half front flips, which essentially means I ended up head first) and on a normal trampoline.  I'm 99% sure I closed my eyes when doing it, and I'm 100% sure that once you've started to do a flip, DO NOT change your mind, that will result in you smashing down onto the floor head and shoulders first....apparently 

So after around 80 minutes it was decided we were leaving.  Obviously being the fitness addict that I am, I could have kept going for another few hours but I appreciate that not everyone is of Olympic level fitness like me so it was time to go.....for dinner (may as well keep the team bonding going over food)

After the meal I did something that I've done a couple of times recently, something I never thought I would do. I went to the cinema on my own.  My film of choice (the only one on) was called 'Don't Breathe'.....at this point you're probably expecting some sort of ridiculous pun or joke about the title, well, don't hold your breath 

The trailer for the film looked really poor but the reviews were excellent so I thought I'd give it a shot and actually it was a bit of a Rolex.....a really good watch

Later in the week I also went to see the new Blair Witch film, the reviews were bad, the trailer made it look bad but you'll be surprised to hear it was at least as good as the original......hmmm

And so on to yesterday, the day I had been building up to for what feels like 6 months.  Yesterday was the day of Tough Mudder Half - London South.  

Now I did a Tough Mudder event a couple of years ago, 12 miles of mud, ice, water, mud, obstacles, mud, mud and mud, and whilst it was enjoyable overall, running 12 miles through ankle deep mud was challenging to say the least.  The great thing about yesterday was the 'half' in the title.  So it was only actually 5 miles.

Now I believe that pretty much anyone can run 5 miles, especially since it's not actually 5 straight miles and it's not a race but a team challenge.

Now our team for the day originally consisted of 3 members, which is less people than you ideally want in a team, so you can imagine the joy when due to injury the 3 person team only ended up with two members.  Being a duo did actually have its advantages though, we didn't have to spend ages waiting at each obstacle for a group of 10-12 people to reform and get through 

There aren't any particular highlights to share, we were both very lucky to get through without injury.  When you start the race it is explained to you that if someone requires medical assistance then you should raise your hands above your head like you're on a tv talent show hosted by Dermot O'Leary.....the system being that others both ahead and behind will repeat the signal and this will get back to a member of staff to assist.  It's a great system, when people actually do it.  As we were passing the 3 mile point we came across a guy that had slipped and heard a snap in his leg, the two people with him were simply stopped looking at him and everyone else was just running past.  So myself and my team mate got ready to fulfil our musical dreams and show that we had the X factor....which eventually resulted in a half assed attempt by others to do the same and medical assistance was soon on route 

At the end of the course is an obstacle called 'Everest' essentially a quarter pipe that you would associate with a skate park, except with this one you don't have any skates and you're covered in mud and soaking wet.  I found this really challenging 2 years ago, but improved fitness and a shorter wait in the cold meant that I actually went straight up first time....and didn't lose my front teeth like one unlucky girl on the course 

Obviously we struggled to build a big team for the event which is a shame because it was a great teamwork event.  It's not a race, no times are recorded and nobody cares how long it takes.  The displays of genuine teamwork by people you had never met or will ever see again were astounding and you simply couldn't get around the course without it.....it was just a shame that some individuals didn't quite understand the concept of helping others in return for assistance

Today will be a relatively relaxed day, mainly because my back is shot from both the trampolining and yesterday and amusingly/confusingly I seem to have bruised my arse as well...I genuinely have no idea how that happened...there wasn't that much team work involved 

To anyone still reading, enjoy the rest of your weekend and have a great week

Taken a bazaar twist

Ok so every year Apple release a new iPhone. Each time the new phone is very similar to the last and in many ways inferior to other phones on the market.  But amazingly despite all of this the Apple fan boyz (should that be one word or two, should it be a Z....god I'm so old) lap it up like a 7 year old laps up sweets....but only on Saturdays #responsibleparent

So yesterday morning as all the 'losers' were logging on to pre order their 'new' phones, I was sat, laughing to myself at how ridiculous it all is........oh, and ordering my new iPhone 7 plus 

I discussed with two friends, who coincidentally will also be ordering phones, what the benefits of the larger screened 'plus' model were over the normal iPhone 7 and do you know what their 3 answers were:

1 - a better camera

2 - longer battery life 

3 - better for watching porn 

Now let me tell you, I wasn't gonna be swayed by a marginally better camera or an extra few minutes of battery life, so I'm not really sure what attracted me to the bigger phone 

I'm writing my blog at around 4:30 this morning from a Bristol hotel room, after waking up at 2am not having a clue where I was.  Oh no, this was not a 'Taken' style abduction, I'm not being prepared to be sold on to the Eastern European sex trafficking network....I'm certain that those individuals do not get a night in a Premier Inn first, well, unless we've actually discovered the real reason that Dawn French left Lenny Henry

I was described yesterday as gorgeous, handsome, funny, kind, sarcastic, annoying and a bit of a nobhead.....I don't think I'm getting these self esteem pep talks quite right.  In all seriousness though I was told recently by someone that they could see a similarity between me and Leonard DiCaprio, and you're thinking 'you're taking the piss aren't you', well to the doubters, all I can say is, have you ever seen me freeze to death holding on to a door floating in the middle of the ocean, no?, well then you have no comparison

I realised about half an hour ago that I didn't really have anything to write today, but I'm awake and there are no custard creams in the room so I had to do something.

Oh, you're probably (not) wondering why I'm in Bristol.  Well today I shall be working at an affordable home ownership roadshow.  I originally typed out the name of the show but then that might create a link between my blog and the event, and therefore my employer....and the last thing we want is something entertaining and amusing linked with housing, that would give totally the wrong impression

The aim of today is to give members of the general public advice on affordable home ownership, I know, shocking right, and actually the events are quite good fun.  I am a self confessed hater of people, so you wouldn't think I would enjoy interacting with some many members of the public, but if there is one thing I like more than not talking to people, it's being nosey about people's lives so in a funny sort of way it's the perfect day for me

I was woken up this morning at a point in a dream that was quite emotional, and I've noticed recently that my dreams have been a lot more closely related to my day to day life, and so it was that a big part of last nights dreams were about trampolining and theme park visits (both trips planned for the near future), I'm hoping desperately for a dream tonight about a lottery win.  On the plus side though, whilst tired today, I am feeling good

Now you may wonder what the relevance of this is, well you see last night I visited a restaurant called 'Za Za Bazaar'.  It is essentially all the food you might like, all in one place, buffet style, all you can eat.  It really was the most bazaar (see what I did there) place I've ever eaten, and I ate far more food than I really should have.  So today could have so easily started with ill feeling or food poisoning, but no, as true athletes are not taken down by just one meal, and neither am I 

It may surprise those that know me, that in the last 6/7 weeks I've actually lost 17lb in weight and am now the lightest I have been for probably 10 years....but panic not, I think I found most of the weight again last night.  Now I never set out to lose weight, it just sort of happened.  And it may also surprise you that there is actually a word for men that lose weight through little effort and for no reason....'bastards' is that word, or so I've been told by most women I've spoken to about my problem  ;-)

I feel like I'm waffling on a little bit now and to be honest I've sort of run out of jokes, which surprised me almost as much as me being full up at dinner last night....I guess I knew that day would eventually come.  So I'll leave you to enjoy your weekends, whatever you choose to do, don't waste the day*

*i don't consider staying in bed a waste of a day

Happy Saturday mother truckers 

A week to remember.....hopefully

I had the realisation that I hadn't written a blog now for nearly two weeks, is this good or bad, I'm not really sure.

Normally the desire to write comes from having a particularly bad day or a particularly good one and I guess the last week or so has been a mixed bag, though generally pretty good.

Now I will warn you, this blog is more of a diary for me.  A record of what I did in my week with Amelia, so I won't be massively offended if no one makes it to the end.  I can't even promise it's going to be entertaining I'm afraid as I'm far too tired to be funny. 

Let's start with the obvious bad news, I haven't been at work, devastating, 9 days off, I almost wish they didn't force me to have 50 days leave a year.  The reason for the week off was to have a week off with Amelia, her last full week of summer holidays and the chance to make some memories....the only problem being I can't remember what we did.....well, I'll give it a shot.

Day 1 - I did nothing really, a good day and a perfect start to holiday 

Day 2 - Sunday and not my day with Amelia, but her and her mum, along with my parents were off to the Roald Dahl Museum.  A word of warning if you're visiting, parking is very limited in the village, and the cafe is very small.  Amelia is studying Roald Dahl at school next term so this was a great opportunity to learn a little more about him...and make a clay model of the BFG

Day 3 - the beach. So we were off to West Wittering, somewhere Amelia and I had never been but we were guided by the unique sat nav that is my friend Colette, essentially if there are two routes to get somewhere she will normally use the 3rd.  She chose to wait until we were on route to tell me that the same trip the previous week had taken 3 hours....fortunate really because if she'd told me before we left then we wouldn't have left at all.  

We were there quite early and had a good pitch on the beach, all the S's were covered, sun, sea, sand, sand castles, seagulls and sun cream....well....sun cream was a bit of a sore point, literally. Amelia got herself changed in the little beach tent we had taken along, and I had instructed her to put her sun lotion on.  The mistake I made here was assuming she had put it everywhere.  To be fair to her she had done a good job, on the front, but missed her back completely which resulted in a slightly burnt 7 year old and a very guilty feeling daddy.  Overall a really enjoyable day though, and a catch up with old friends.

Day 4 - so we had no plan for this sunny Tuesday so decided to wing it.  We did the Asda shop in the morning, oh yes we know how to live.  A speculative text then saw us heading to the paddling pool to meet up with another friend and her two daughters.  Now I know what you're thinking, he wouldn't be reckless enough to not apply enough sun cream on his daughter two days in a row....and you're right, she was well covered.  I on the other hand am 6 days into the worst sunburn I've had for about 15 years.....but pretty soon I'm gonna have the best suntan my back has ever seen, just a shame I still look albino from the front 

Day 5 - today was a day out with another friend and her son.  He had a dentist appointment booked for 3pm so we didn't want to travel far.  Off to Basingstoke then and to the Aquadrome, which was awesome fun, first time on the flumes for all of us and we all loved them.  Amelia was uncertain at first and after walking all the way to the top of the stairs we realised that we were supposed to collect rubber rings from the bottom.  Now Amelia was adamant she wasn't having a go, so I went all the way to the bottom for two rings and as I got the top Amelia had decided she did want a go, so I did the stairs for the 3rd time.  All in a very fun swimming trip though, followed by a picnic in the park and a trip to the ice cream parlour....are they still called that, it is still the 1950's right. 

Day 6 - mooching followed by Paultons Park with friends, we have annual passes so a nice cheap day out and very enjoyable, with scorching weather again as well

Day 7 - a late start what with one thing and another and we were off to Newbury to '4 Kingdoms Adventure Park'.  It would best be described as a collection of all the things kids like (soft play, bouncy castles, go karts, a maze) along with a farm and amusement arcade style ride on machines etc.  It was great fun and to be honest at £34 for a family ticket, it was really good value, in fact we only left when we did as it started to rain and we were conscious of traffic 

Day 8 - nothing of any great note during the day today, but the focus was firmly on the evening and a friends 30th birthday party.  Now to celebrate the end of her 20's, she had rather cleverly decided to host a 1920's themed party.  A great excuse to get the suit on, get myself a bow tie and do my best impression of my brother from another mother Leonardo DiCaprio, the Great Gatsby.  For a party that ran from 7-12 we did pretty well to get home just before 5am.  Overall an awesome night and with very reasonable drinks prices.  All videos of my dancing will be destroyed to avoid embarrassment....to the other party guests, I'm an amazing dancer!!!  I also met some great people, the most hardcore 4 year old in the world and the most legendary grandad, I only hope I have his moves when I'm 78....and his little black book 

Day 9 - Hungover 

Overall a very very busy week, and a part of me is looking forward to going to work tomorrow for a rest*

*obviously I wouldn't dream of resting, it's non stop work from 7-5 #commitment #dedication 

Hope you all had a great week last week and an even better week ahead