Need I Say More?

All The Things I'd Forgotten About

It's funny the things that you find when you are having a clear out. Here is just a small sample of the items that I found when cleaning out my big cupboard:
1) Big, sparkly chav earrings......

Stunning! 2) A collection of Shaun Maloney pictures3) Sean Bean!4) My mini disc player. I'm kinda sad that it didn't have a longer life..... stupid mp3s!5) The first album that I ever bought.... I still remember the first time that I ever saw Boyzone. They were on GMTV singing Love Me For A Reason. I still love that album!6) My Mum and Dad gave me this on my first day at Barney.7) My degree.8) These boxes are stuffed full of letters. The top one just contains letters from Sophie!9) 18th Birthday cards. I'm 24 now. Work that one out!10) Something that I bought years ago for a friend and never gave to them....... They should have it now.11) And I didn't find this munchkin in my cupboard (although it wouldn't be the first time that I found one of my hamsters in there!) but I just had to show you this picture even though it is so blurry! Little fatty!I wish I could say that my cupboard is now empty and tidy but it isn't... I don't think I'll ever conquer that one!

Did I Hear You Say Adorable?

That's right!

Give Blood

All I did was try to do a good deed and this is what they did to me.... On Wednesday (it also happened to be my birthday!) I went to try and give blood. I say try because I wasn't hopeful of being able to donate after the debacle I had trying to donate last time. I was in first year at university and went with two of my flatmates. That time I ended up with absolutely enormous bruises on each arm and unable to move them very well. They didn't even get any blood from me!
Needless to say, that put me off donating blood for quite a long time. I decided to try again because in my job I see the value that donated blood has. I'm often sent down to the blood room to collect units of blood for patients that need it and I know that if that blood wasn't readily available then it would be an absolute disaster.
So I bit the bullet.
It started so well. The test drop sank! Hurrah! Already better than last time! They did have trouble getting a big enough vein to take the donation from and my arm ended up going blue but they did (eventually!) get the needle in. What is more it stayed in. Success........
Or not. Apparently, whilst my blood was flowing, it wasn't flowing fast enough. Grand. It seems that they have to get the blood in a certain amount of time...... or maybe it was just nearing home time..... (who knows!) but they stopped my donation. I gave half a bag.... Bummer! At least it can still be used for testing..... Bonus(!)

Then, to add the icing on the cake, I actually wouldn't stop bleeding. I had three different people sit with me and non of them could stop it. It didn't stop til later that night. If only they'd sent the bag home with me. I could have given them the donation!

I expected to bruise because of my experience last time (I wish I had photos of that because I wouldn't be able to do them justice. Pictures being worth a thousand words and all!) but I'd not really taken into account the fact that I work in a hospital and if you work in a hospital then you have to be bare below the elbows. That isn't good with a rather unsightly bruise and skin that is perpetually reacting to the plasters that are covering it!

That being said, I'm rather proud of my bruise. I'm also glad that I managed to give half a bag, even if it can't be used to give to people. Next time I'm not going to go straight from work because I was probably a little dehydrated which won't have helped the low flow. So, yes I am going to try one more time. It really is something that I feel I should do. I know that I can't tell others that they should or even think they should but it is a small thing to do that makes such a big difference to someone.
Hopefully next time the bruise will be worth it!

The Best £1.79 I Have Ever Spent

You know what, I really do like my iPod. I never thought that I would be persuaded that iPods or 'iAnything' were the way forward. The iPod Touch is really something special though. I both love and loathe that I am so hooked on technology but this thing is BRILLIANT. Yeah, you've probably guessed that I am not referencing my iPod purchase in the title of this blog.... £1.79 would have been a mega deal!

I'm talking about an App that I downloaded. It cost me £1.79 and it is definitely worth it. It is called C25K (Couch To 5K).

If you haven't caught on, it's a running app.

I tried getting into running a while back. I have a book with a schedule in it and everything. It is actually a really good book and I found it very useful. The only problem was that I was running on pavements which is the hardest surface that you can run on so is very hard on your joints. It just got too painful for me to continue.

Now I have a car so I am able to drive to somewhere where the running surface isn't quite so relentless so I decided to get this app.

This way I can do the alternating jogging/walking whilst listening to my music. It also means that I don't have to keep looking at my watch because I get peeps in my ear and an instruction whether to run or walk when it is time to change pace. I can just concentrate on what I am doing.

I tested it for the first time today and it really worked very well for me. I actually enjoyed my exercise and can't wait to go out jogging again soon!!

From When I Turned 24

Here are a few snapshots from my birthday party last week.

The girls (Beth, Sarah, Sophie and Megan and myself) started with facemasks. Naturally! We then got dressed up. We kept James waiting about half an hour though! Ooops!Poor James! Can I hear you say uncomfortable??My lovely birthday hat. It sings too.We got takeaway - Dominos and Little Fat Buddha.There were party poppers.....and cake!It melted!Then we broke out the glowsticks. We all know that no party is complete unless there are glowsticks!

We also played Disney Trivial Pursuit but I don't have photos of that.

What a wonderful birthday!!

The Forbidden Corner

A Fantastically Fabulous afternoon of Frolics at The Forbidden Corner Filled with Frights, Fun, Friends and Frogs.

Last Creme Egg Of The Season