It's 5 am, I have been awake for hours following a lovely relaxing birthday day and my mind is doing its usual thing.....worrying and fretting, overthinking and pondering. Instead of tossing and turning I thought it best just to get on with this blog post which is another thing that has been playing on my mind. I haven't blogged on this site for 3 weeks which is very remiss of me. There has been a lot going on but that's really no excuse so brace yourselves for a round up of the highlights of my life over the past few weeks.
First up, my middle daughter and her husband took part in the Brighton marathon in the middle of April. It was their first marathon experience and they both completed the challenge and are now applying for London marathon places for next year. They have also both signed up for Brighton again as well so I feel it's safe to say that they have got the running bug. I'm very proud of them both for achieving their goal and delighted that my London marathon experience of 10 years ago served as some kind of inspiration for my daughter.
Next up, several weeks ago I went with youngest daughter to London where we attended a wedding fair at the Excel centre. We met up with one of her best friends there which was lovely as I hadn't met him before but had heard lots about him. He was exactly as I expected him to be and is obviously a very good friend who knows my daughter very well. It was really god to spend time with them both doing something different.
My daughter had booked VIP tickets to the show so, as a consequence, we drank prosecco, had good seats for the catwalk show, got a goody bag each and ate free cake! What's not to love? After the catwalk experience my daughter was approached to be interviewed about her thoughts and experience of the event and so she and her friend were miked up,recorded and filmed. Somewhere online there will be proof I am sure!
I have managed to get to the beach hut a couple of times which has been wonderful. I finally donned a wetsuit for the first time in my life and went to a very brief swim in the sea. It was flipping freezing but it was worth it. I also took myself to the hut after a stressful week...in fact I was ordered to go there for my own well-being!... and had a blissful time listening to music, drinking tea, eating toast and getting my head together.
I've been trampolining with my son, another activity that I haven't participated in in many a year. It was exhausting but fun and all part of the exercise regime that I am desperately trying to keep to. Trying different activities is actually fun and I'm enjoying the challenge. I'm also still swimming once a week - yes, it should be more, I know - as part of the training for our triathlon challenge which is approaching fast. I think it's 4 weeks away now.
The triathlon fundraising is going amazingly well and I now have a raffle to organise as well because I have had offers and donations of prizes that have quite overwhelmed me. There will be more news of this once the all of the details are finalised. For now though, please go to my triathlon blog:
https://triathlonforphoebeandsam.wordpress.com
and/or our fundraising page for latest information.
http://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/phoebeandsam
Oh, and I should also mention that one of my very favourite singer/songwriters tweeted our fundraising page details for us as well. Thank you Mr Frank Turner, you wonderful man!
On a more sombre note, and since I last blogged here, the world has lost two more great artists - the wonderful Victoria Wood and the hugely talented Prince. Victoria Wood was supremely talented in my opinion. She could write, sing and act. she came across as a lovely, private person. I remember watching her TV shows back in the 80's with Mum and crying with laughter. As for Prince, what is there to say? He was a one off, an original. His music, while not the soundtrack to my life, has always been on my radar. His tracks regularly pop up on my ipad. When we moved house I was compelled to throw away a load of old CDs that I no longer played. I kept the Prince ones.
One of the most lovely things about the last few weeks is that youngest daughter and I went to Salzburg! We had the best time. The weather was fabulous, the people were friendly, our hotel was great, we ate pretzels and strudel , drank beer and went on The Sound of Music tour which was absolutely brilliant and something that I have wanted to do in a very long time. It was a joy to experience it with my daughter who loves the musical as much as I do. At times I found it all a little emotional as we sat on the coach and were driven past lakes and mountains with the soundtrack playing. I was transported back to watching the film with Mum when I was a child. I know she would have loved that tour.
And finally, phew, my birthday which was yesterday. I can't believe that I'm 56 and a nanny of 6. What a lucky, lucky lady I am. On Friday, and as a start of the Bank holiday and birthday weekend, we went to see American Idiot, the musical based on the album of the same name by Green Day. the album was massive back in the day and I think all of my kids had a copy of it as did my hubby. I got tickets for the family to go and see the group live as surprise Christmas presents years ago and the concert that we went to is still one of the best I have ever seen. The band played the whole album from start to finish and it was brilliant. Anyway, back to the musical...I was unsure what to expect but I knew that the show had got awards and great reviews when it was first released.Well, I have to say that I really enjoyed it. I hadn't heard any Green Day music for a very long time but when I heard it again on Friday night I remembered just how good they were.
Yesterday, my actual birthday, was spent initially feeling ropey after a few glasses of wine the night before but then progressed to a lovely barbecue brunch that I had organised at the local country park. I hired the barbecue area and invited family and friends to come along and it was lovely. The weather could have been nicer but it didn't rain. There was bacon, sausages, hot dogs, rolls, fruit juice and sauces aplenty. Loads of people came with various dogs and children and it was wonderful. I have more flowers than I know what to do with and I have run out of room for my cards. I told you.....very, very lucky indeed. Thanks to all who were part of my day in any way at all.
That's a very brief round up of what's been happening while I've been away. Life is good. It's not always without it's struggle but life is good.
xxxxxx
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