Posts filed under 'Friends and Family'
Well, another age has passed since I last blogged and I thought it prudent to post a little about my trip to Disneyworld in Orlando, Florida a few weeks back. I was there with my best friend, Carole and her husband, Mark and their daughter (our goddaughter) Alice Rose.
They flew out a few days before me and soon enough I was in the heat of Florida! We stayed in a lovely 7 bedroom villa about 15 minutes drive from Disneyworld itself, nice to have lots of space and a pool to cool down in! Unfortunately due to an ice-skating accident back in December, Carole wasn’t very mobile - but thanks to her motorised scooter was able to get around the parks quite well.
The first day was spent at Animal Kingdom. The first ride of the day was the Kali River Rapids, all the guides advise you do it early or late - as you get soaked! Unfortunately, Alice got a tad upset by the soaking, so I was left to go on it a second time all alone - which meant Mark could take pictures of me. We then went off to ride the fearsome new rollercoaster “Expedition Everest” - check out this picture of me and Mark on there having a whale of a time. In fact, thanks to the FastPass system, we went on it twice back to back 
We watched the traditional 3pm parade and then, excitingly, met Minnie Mouse as we were leaving for home.
Friday we had a bit of a low-key day, as we were planning on going out later to watch the evening parade and fireworks at the Magic Kingdom. We executed said plan and the floats were fabulous especially Cinderella and Prince Charming! After the parade we ended up with a muffin and a latte for dinner (I know, not the diet of a runner!) and waited to see the fireworks, which didn’t disappoint.
Saturday saw us visiting one of the waterparks at Disney, called Blizzard Beach. It had all kinds of fun things to do, Alice really enjoyed herself as she is a bit of a water-baby. The park is meant to look like a ski resort, it’s quite bizarre really - but great fun! We then had a lazy afternoon at home, followed by a Chinese take-away (with the most strange pink, orange and green prawn crackers ever!).
On Sunday we headed off to MGM Studios. This turned out to be my favourite of all the parks. We got to ride the Aerosmith Rock and Roller Coaster (cue embarrassing photo!), we saw the Beauty and the Beast stage show from the front row, thanks to Carole’s disabled scooter, Alice met Belle, Snow White and Mary Poppins and the girls all met Minnie again, this time in her traditional outfit…but the highlight of the day was meeting Sully and Mike from Monsters Inc., I was absolutely thrilled to bits - as you may be able to tell from the cheesy grin!
Monday saw us off to Magic Kingdom, where we went on a few rides including the AstroOrbiter and Mark and Alice took time out to meet Buzz Lightyear…to infinity and beyond We then braved the hot sunshine for the 3pm parade, including seeing Cinders again.
Ticking along to Tuesday and we headed to Epcot, which was Alice’s favourite part of Disney. I have to admit that I found Epcot pretty dated and it looked a bit tatty. However, I did have a chance to go on 2 really cool rides, one was “Soarin’” and the other was “Mission Space” where I decided perhaps I could be an astronaut…
Wednesday was my last day before heading home. The week absolutely flew by in a blur of rides and Tinkerbell and Minnie Mouse 
Breakfast was spent in the company of Winnie the Pooh and friends, here I am grinning meeting Piglet! The only thing I really really wanted to do was the Pirates of the Caribbean ride, the ride was a bit of a let-down but the show outside beforehand was great! We were very lucky just to be there at the right time and I think you’ll agree that the chap who played Cap’n Jack was a great lookie-likie! Carole and I had to have our photo taken outside Cinderella’s castle whilst wearing our ears…
And that, my friends, is that. A week in Disney was probably enough for me and I am not sure I would ever return - not least because I think I missed David so much whilst he was at home and I was away. However, I had a wonderful time and have some great memories - and fab photos to treasure. I did say when I came back that I wouldn’t go on holiday without David again but here I am planning a trip to Dubai with three midwife friends in November….
April 25th, 2007
OK, so David had a rusty old bike (16 years old, about 3 feet too small for him) to ride to the station on as he was fed up of his lovely bike getting nicked…on Boxing Day he decided enough was enough of riding the teeny tiny thing and went to buy the cheapest bike he could to perform the same task.
Off to Halfords he went, spending the princely sum of £80 on a new bike. He couldn’t have the cheapest one ‘cos he’s too tall. Even the man in Halfords said, “the parts aren’t good quality but that’s why it’s £80″. Remember this later.
He’s had the bike for one month. So far he has had one puncture, got the most irritating squeaky brakes known to mankind (I ran alongside the squeak for 5 miles a few weeks ago!), had the bell vandalised, the gears slip and then he just said, “I meant to tell you, my handlebars almost fell off on the way from work this evening”.
Hence the title of this blog entry…good value? Methinks not
February 2nd, 2007
Well, not technically my first 5km run - I have done two charity “runs” a few years ago, with times of just under 50 minutes if memory serves. Not really runs at all in fact. However, after my six week training plan, it was time to see if it would do what it says on the tin and get me around a 5km run.
Every Saturday morning there is a run in Bushy Park near Kingston-upon-Thames. The Bushy Park Time Trial (BPTT) is free and a varying number of runners (normally 130 to 200+) turn up - David has done it a few times now. I lined up at the back of the start line - butterflies in my tummy - and after a quick warning about the frisky stags, we were off! I had a 1km rough marker and 2km rough marker in my head, so knew vaguely what I should be aiming for time-wise. This was ruined straight away, as when I reached the 1km point, I was about 50 seconds faster than I normally do (usually I am about 7:40 min/km). Hmmm. I appeared to have gone off too quickly. David conversely said he went off too slowly, which is why he looks so comfy in this photo. Must have got carried away in the excitement! Anyway, I plodded on. The plan that David and I had discussed was for me to run as far as I could before stopping to walk for a minute and then running again, hopefully to the finish.
The six week training plan had enabled me to run for 15 mins, walk one minute, then run for 15 minutes again, covering a distance of just over 4km. The idea is that after the six week plan is finished, you should be able to run 20 minutes before walking. I reached 15 minutes, then 20 minutes and finally managed to reach 26 minutes without stopping! I walked for one minute and then started to run again. Amazingly I was about to enter the “home straight” which David had told me was the final kilometre. He had finished in 20:14 seconds (slightly less comfy in this photo!), so had a few minutes to wander up to me at 27 minutes - and then he ran down the final kilometre with me again. I crossed the line in 34:55, which was 6:59 mins/km!! I was over the moon - and finished 143rd out of 148, so not last
All in all, a successful Saturday morning, incidentally David was 28th out of 148. I don’t think I will ever catch him somehow. My next target is to be able to get around the whole thing without having to stop. Oh - and still talk at the same time as running. Not that I have anyone to run with, so if anybody fancies a running buddy…?
October 1st, 2006
I was politely reminded *ahem* that I haven’t blogged in ages at the weekend, so after the shenanigan’s of Sunday night, I felt the need.
As you probably know, David has run a Jamiroquai website (funkin.com) for a few years, in fact it celebrated it’s tenth birthday on July 13th. I help him out on some of the day to day stuff but really it is all him…though what do they say, “Behind every great man is a great woman”
So, we went to the Lovebox festival on Sunday, saw Norman Jay spin some tunes, mooched around for a bit, ate delicious Caribbean goat curry and then went to watch our favourite band, Jamiroquai. I had been asked to keep a secret from David, which was that some of the fans wanted to take him out for dinner after the gig but I must not tell him. However, it transpires that it was all a big lie! I thought I was in on the secret but I wasn’t! David defintiely wasn’t as I somehow managed to not tell him anything.
Some rather lovely Jamiroquai fans who frequent funkin.com, as well as a superb forum jamirotalk.net decided way back in April that they wanted to throw a party for David and I to celebrate the anniversary of the site. We were absolutely shocked! It was wonderful. They had made banners, booked a really cool bar and the best thing was that they had asked for contributions to an A4 book, which comprised messages from lots of our friends (virtual and “real”!), including a message from Derrick (Jamiroquai’s drummer who we know pretty well now). It is fabulous! The really funny thing is that now the party is over, we have been allowed access to the “secret area” of jamirotalk where the whole thing was planned. It is very very amusing to read all the plans taking shape, them wondering how to get us both there, deciding I needed to be partially aware and finally being excited in the days beforehand.
We are over the moon that people would go to all this trouble for us (well, David really, but I seem to be included). Some people we had never even met, some we have and would consider to be great friends. It is overwhelming and once we have some photos sorted I will update this entry. I have to confess that currently my favourite page in the book is from woman called Deesha. It is a photograph of David taken in New York in October 2005, where he is in the press pit taking photos of the band (see, a photo of a photographer taking a photo, it’s cool)…she has printed across it a comment that David made to her earlier in the year when she was over in London. It says, “One day, when I am old I will look back and realise how lucky I am”. Not half as lucky as me to be married to him…
July 25th, 2006
So, to all of my American friends I make the same plea I made to my British friends earlier in the year. Help save the life of a mother to be in Ethiopia.
It is Mother’s Day soon in the States and the charity Maternity Worldwide is running the same campaign for America as it did for the UK in March. I urge you to donate on your Mom’s behalf to this charity instead of buying her flowers or candy. My Mum was very pleased with her certificate for Mother’s Day and said it was one of the best things I had bought her in a long time.
Help a Mom in Ethiopia live through the experience of childbirth so that she can see her child grow and love her, like your Mom loves you. Help this charity to reduce the maternal mortality rate in Ethiopia, could there be a better Mother’s Day gift than the gift of life? I make no apology for the emotive language but hope that you forgive me.
May 1st, 2006
Just a quick message to say that some of my graduation photos are now online on our photo gallery. Have a look and a laugh at me in my silly outfit.
February 8th, 2006
I have graduated! Here’s the photographic evidence
The ceremony took place at the Barbican Centre in London on Monday 6th February 2006 at 3.00pm. I went with David and Carole and we had a great day. Carole and I went for lunch at Harvey Nichols (the first drink of the day was a glass of pink champagne to match my new pink hair!) and then met David at the tube station. After the ceremony and photos, we went for cocktails at Bar Red and for dinner at a *very* posh Indian restaurant called the Red Fort.
Of course, this is my second graduation ceremony. However, this time is extra special because I achieved a First Class Honours degree in Midwifery - I am immensely proud of myself! I am also eternally grateful to David who helped me through the tough times of being a student midwife (and paid for me to pursue my dream). He seems to think this is the last time I will graduate but I am not so sure…
February 7th, 2006
Yasmin Irene is the name of David and my new niece, daughter of David’s brother Martin and Isobel, his wife. I say “new” but according to her website she is actually 20 days old today. I can’t believe it is already almost three weeks since she was born, time flies doesn’t it? She is feeding well and putting weight on, which is excellent on both counts (the midwife in me coming out there!).
There are some lovely pictures of her on the site - I personally think she looks like Martin and can’t see much of Isobel in her at all, although knowing babies as I do, I am sure she will change and we will see more of mummy in her too! There is also a clip of Yasmin “talking”…the kind of talking I can do without at 3am!
January 18th, 2006
I am back. I am absolutely shattered. I drunk too much, ate too much junk food and had a great time. I had 100 minutes sleep in forty hours - I am definitely too old for that kind of behaviour!
Funnily enough, on my flight up to Edinburgh on Saturday afternoon, Gordon Brown (Chancellor of the Exchequor in case you don’t know) was sitting directly across my row, with a man whom I can only assume is his bodyguard. I was *most* disappointed to note that neither Mr Brown, nor his bodyguard, paid any attention whatsoever to the safety video and also unstrapped themselves from their seats to stand up long before the seatbelt sign was switched off. Things like that irk me. It puts them and fellow passengers at risk.
I didn’t have much time to do the tourist thing in Edinburgh - the primary reason for visiting was to catch up with friends - but I did manage yesterday afternoon to visit Edinburgh Castle. There were some beautiful views, I wish it had been sunny rather than the overcast weather that the afternoon brought. I also visited the Scottish crown jewels exhibition in the castle - no big diamonds like the crown jewels in the Tower of London though. I would like to return to Edinburgh and make a proper visit of it - it was all too fleeting for my liking!
January 16th, 2006
I am very much looking forward to this weekend, I am off to Edinburgh to meet up with a group of student midwives and midwives. I “virtually” met many of them before I started my training and as the three years went by some of us have met in person at conferences and the like. Most of us met on the Student Midwives Sanctuary which is a, errm, sanctuary, for student midwives. Of course, many of us are now qualified (and earning money) and so I suspect the drinks may be on us!
This means though that David will be home alone, so Daddy Rowe is coming to go to the Boat Show with David and I am sure they will have great fun. Not as much as me though. I am partly looking forward to it because I am not at work now until Tuesday - which is lovely as working on Labour Ward is so tiring. Before then I need to construct a name badge…I have the glitter glue, pom poms and stars but no creative juices are flowing. Anyone with a child who wants to make it for me?!
January 12th, 2006
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