Race for Life!

I really meant to post this sooner...but I don't know

where the time's gone! So, on Sunday afternoon, the girls and I took part in the 5K Race for Life. On the way there, I was a bit stressed as we were running late, but when we got there the stress melted away as I realised that there was still plenty of time to get ready!

We attached our race numbers,

then wandered over towards the main stage, where there were loads of other women and girls who were also taking part. Some were in fancy dress and others were wearing customised T-Shirts. Then a warm up session started...it was pretty cheesy but good fun to watch! I wanted to join in, but my friends were having none of it, so I decided against it! Then came the serious bit...we all had a couple of minutes silence to think about the people we were taking part in the race for, while a video played on the big screen that reminded us of exactly why we were going to be spending part of our day walking/jogging/running 5K. Even though I wasn't racing for anyone in particular, I still found it really emotional and even got a bit teary!

After this, it was time to get started! The walkers, joggers, runners and people with pushchairs were guided to their various start points (we were walking due to lack of training!) and then one by one our groups set off. It was a bit slow to get started; we had been walking for over 7 minutes before we even reached the start line, but once we did it was fantastic! There were marshals cheering us along the way, and once we got past the first couple of KMs, the time seemed to go really quickly. Even the weather managed to stay dry! We reached the finish line in a time of 1h 13 mins, so if you take the 7 minutes off, we managed it in just over an hour which was pretty good going considering we walked the whole way!

As we crossed the finish line, we were handed our medals and a goody bag which contained some Nivea, Tetley and Ricola samples and a Cif booklet as well as the all important cereal bar and bottle of water! After a short sit down, we made our way towards the exit, browsing the stands as we went. Although I was a bit achy, the race was definitely worth it! I had a fantastic time, and managed to raise money for charity in the process. All that's left to say is:

Bring on next year!!

Weekend Plans

So the weekend's come round again, and I'm definitely glad of it! It looks like it could be quite an eventful one for me; this is the run down of my plans so far:

Friday Night

I'm not going to rehearsal tonight, as I'm helping out at a local youth club instead. I used to volunteer there on a regular basis, and when I gave up to concentrate on my drama group I said that they could call on me if ever they were short staffed. Well, tonight they are! I'm not sure if 'm doing anything afterwards, but it will probably be a quiet night whatever happens.

Saturday

In the morning, I'll be going to my Grandad's with family as usual, but it will be a little out of the ordinary as it will be his Father's Day lunch. My mum will rustle up something extra special to eat and we'll take his gifts down to him. When I come home, I'll most probably be doing ANOTHER job application and relaxing if I get any time left over!

There are some vague plans for going out in Manchester on Saturday night, but nothing's been decided yet, and after last week's disappointment, I don't really want to get my hopes up too high! If we do go out, I doubt it will be too much of a crazy one because of the events of the next afternoon...

Sunday

It's Father's Day, so we'll give my Dad his presents and cards and generally make a bit of a fuss of him! I'll probably relax up until the big event of the day (for me, anyway!)...the Race for Life 5K! I'm sure about many of the details yet, but I know it starts at 2:30 and we need to be there an hour before. I'm really excited about it, it's meant to be a great atmosphere, and will post all the details afterwards!

In the evening, we'll have a Father's Day meal with my dad, and that's where my plans end! Hopefully I'll have a nice chilled out end to the weekend, when I can recharge ready for the week ahead :-)

What are everyone else's plans for the weekend? Hope you all have a great time whatever you're doing, and will post again soon!

Midweek slump...

Maybe it's just because I'm coming towards the end of a tiring and busy school year. Or because I'm trying to do too many job applications at once, and stressing myself out. Or it's the fact that I can never get to bed early enough. Or maybe it's just all 3!! Whatever it is, I'm officially in a slump and I can't believe it's still only Wednesday night. I do know there's people who have to juggle far more than me; I'm not the worst off by any means but I'm still feeling a little bit sorry for myself and I just need to vent!

On the other hand, it's hopefully looking up a bit from here. I'm not working tomorrow morning or at all on Friday, so I should be able to have a bit more rest and have extra time to tackle the dreaded applications too! Fingers crossed that I'll be feeling a little more human then! Rant over... for now! ;-)

Random annoyance

I'm not quite sure what I've done to my last post, but I can't get it to look right for love nor money! Grrrrr!! Never mind, hopefully this will turn out better :-)

Weekend part two...

Well, the weekend's nearly over and I can't believe how fast it's gone :-( Anyway, it's time for part 2 of my weekend update and I'll start by saying that things haven't gone exactly to plan since my last post! Unfortunately, the planned night out didn't happen so I improvised and had a girly DVD night in instead. I ate

drank

and watched

I know it wasn't exactly the night I planned, but I had fun anyway! It was a real feel good film and I'd forgotten what fantastic quotes there were in it.

Today went a lot more as planned, except I only got one and a half job applications done instead of the three I was intending! They're just so time consuming, and after a while I just lose all interest! They don't need to be in till Friday but I just didn't want to end up leaving everything till the last minute as normal! Hopefully I 'll have a quiet day or two this week to finish them. I also spent some time in the garden. It was lovely and warm and I almost fell asleep!

For the rest of the evening, I'm planning just to relax and watch TV, maybe have a bath. Nothing too stressful! :-)

Anyway, hope everyone has had a fantastic weekend and has a lovely week ahead! :-)

Weekend part one...

So it's the weekend...and the sun is shining! :-) I don't know about anyone else, but it always adds that extra something to my day!

Anyway, I was meaning to post my weekend plans yesterday, but I didn't get time, so here they are now...hopefully better late than never!

Friday Night

Went to my drama society rehearsal then on to the pub with friends. I arrived home to be greeted by a power cut (!) but luckily the power came back on not long after so I could see what I was doing!

Saturday

Went to my Grandad's for lunch (my family's Saturday tradition) and then Father's Day shopping with my sisters. We managed to get sorted pretty quickly, except I somehow forgot to buy my dad's card from me, and unfortunately didn't realise till I got home :-( Looks like I 'll be taking another shopping trip sometime before next Sunday!

Saturday Night

Hopefully, I'm going into Manchester with some friends for a mini pub crawl. We did something similar on a night out a few weeks back and had an amazing time, so I'm really looking forward to maybe doing it again. Will post more details later if it goes ahead.

Sunday

I've got no real plans for Sunday yet...I know I've got some job applications that need doing, so I'll probably spend some time doing those and I've also got my fingers crossed for nice weather so I might be able to get out in the garden or have a walk without getting rained on! I'm aiming for a really relaxing day, before having to get up for the possibility of an early morning call on Monday :-(

Hope everyone else has a fabulous weekend, whatever you're doing! :-)

After the jog!

Well, I'm still alive! Me and one of my friends bit the bullet and went for the long awaited jog this evening (although it was more like half jog/half walk!) and it was better than we expected :-) We're both in agreement that we're going to keep the exercising up, and may even do some more tomorrow! I know it might be a bit too little, too late for the race itself but in terms of my overall health and fitness it can only be a good thing!

I really should start training...

for my first 5K run, in 10 days!! It only seems like yesterday when it was 2 months away and I was discussing training with my friends. I even downloaded a training programme from the Net, but needless to say that didn't go quite to plan!

Luckily enough, we're all in the same boat, so we're all going to be helping each other through and not running too fast! Nevertheless, I know we'd feel much better if we tried some jogging beforehand and there are tentative plans for something tonight, so we shall see... ;-) !

At the end of the day, however, the most important thing is the fact that it's a charity race, so by taking part we'll be able to raise lots of money for Cancer Research :-) Despite the lack of training, I'm really looking forward to taking part, and am even tentatively thinking about doing a 10K for the same charity in a few months! Suppose it would be wiser to see how this goes first though...

My blog design

So over the last few days I've been spending quite a bit of time browsing blogs and have been amazed at how fantastic some of them look. I really wanted mine to look better, but I didn't know how. So I did an internet search and came across this fantastic website:

http://www.thecutestblogontheblock.com

They do great blog designs, including lots of amazing things you can get for free! They've really improved the look of my blog, and if you're searching for inspiration for yourself, I'd seriously recommend them! :-)

Where to begin??....

I suppose at the beginning would make sense! Well, this is my blog...I'm hoping to use it to keep track of what I do, where I go, what I buy and my likes and dislikes.  And maybe people might even read it...! Here's hoping! :-)