Size 20!!!!!!

I have managed to get into a pair of size 20 trousers today and I am over the moon! I really wish I could bottle this high and sell it as I would be a millionaire. In 12 weeks I have lost 1 stone 11 lbs, and have gone from a very tight fitting 24 to a size 20.
Obviously due to my CP I'm not able to do much in the way of physical exercise and the weight loss has been down to diet alone, but I feel fantastic either way, and earlier, putting on a size 20 outfit and a new pair of shoes I felt a little like the old me. Sadly though, the old me is long gone, the old me didn't need a wheelchair and was able to run about, walk a mile or so and that is not going to happen again, but at least I can be a healthier new me instead :)

I love this photo, because this just helps me remember exactly who I'm doing this for

Busy Weekend

Despite the week seeing busy with Corin, I honestly didn't feel like I stopped until this afternoon. Me and 2 others from the JH Variety Performers went to a fete with our 'lucky boxes' stall, which in short is a tombola. I was supposed to be running the hook-a-duck with other lady, but she hadn't made it, so I found myself putting rice into and then blowing up punchball balloons. I'm sure you know the sort, that they charge a fortune for at fairs and you're lucky if you can get them home without them going 'bang' and leaving your small child sobbing in fear and/or disappointment. Well, we were selling them at £1 each, and I thought I'll blow a few up (no balloon pump!) and hang them from the side of the table, not thinking that they would sell, because we hardly sold any at the last fete. How wrong can one person be. I blew up over 50 of the beggars! We had a few pop, but not many that I was aware of, but at one point I had about 5 children waiting while I blew the balloons up. People were saying to me 'Don't you get dizzy doing that?' and 'Oh, I couldn't blow one up without getting dizzy.' but I was honestly fine, just very tired last night, but its not something I would want to repeat in a hurry! On the plus size, we made over £50 on balloons, and one of the 'rules' of being in the JHVP is that every member contributes an equivalent of £50, be it via fundraising, or contributing goods or the money itself. I have now reached my commitment amount, and its only just the start of the fundraising season :)

Today we were at a Christening, and when we left I decided to nip up to Sainsbury's as we were running low on soft fruit (I always have fruit and fat-free yogurt for breakfast since starting Slimming World) and while in there I noticed they had a 1/2 price clothing sale. Now my trousers are all too loose, but I have been too paranoid to buy new smaller ones because if they didn't fit, it would probably be enough to make me give up, but there was a lovely pair of white linen mix trousers, reduced to £7, so I thought I'd buy them and just hope they would fit. There was no elastic in the waist either, which I usually go for, but decided to hope for the best. I paid for my shopping and went to leave, at which point I discovered the lovely sunshine I had left when I entered the store had turned into rain, thunder and lightening. Thank goodness I had my umbrella in my handbag, and the lovely lady on the lottery counter was kind enough to give me a plastic bag and and elastic band to cover the controller on my chair (which doesn't like getting wet!)
I got home without getting too drenched, and tried on the trousers and they fit, and there is a little room in them too, so hopefully I'm nicely on my way down to the next size :)

Potty training, bad back and other random stuff

I was woken up at 9.15am by Corin shouting 'incy wincy spider'. I only hope that it was because of the nursery rhyme and not because there is a spider roaming around my flat (unless it is a small spider than keeps itself to itself and eats the flies, because I hate those too). Of course the weather had changed this morning from glorious sunshine to miserable rain, so my back felt as if someone had stamped on it :(

Corin wanted to use his potty today, and apart from accidentally tipping the contents out onto the hall floor (vinyl thankfully), and pooing on the floor because there was wee in the potty and he hadn't told me (which daddy was home to clear up) its all been pretty smooth sailing. Obviously bending down to pick up a potty isn't ideal with a bad back, but our toilet is quite high and Corin just doesn't feel very safe on it at the moment, even with a toilet seat insert, but he's been nappy free all morning and only has one on now because he's gone for a nap :)

I've got a meeting tonight with the J H Variety Performers. We're a locally based group that perform concerts to raise money for local charities, including the local cancer unit at Taunton Hospital, Hearing Dogs for The Deaf and Brainwave, who support children with brain injuries and help them to achieve their full potential through physio and conductive therapies. Once a year we do a show that runs for two evenings, and tonights meeting is to discuss ideas for next years show.



This is the majority of last years cast, in an official photo taken to promote the show in the local paper. I love singing, and do often end up being asked to sing solo parts, so hopefully I don't sound like the local tom cat at 3am!

Gonna leave this here for now, but may pop back later of anything really funny or interesting does happen!

oooooo!

Pretty stars - I like these new templates :)

'blows away the dust' *train Journey*

I keep forgetting about this. Well, on Sat 23 July I rather bravely attempted a train journey to Cheltenham - ALONE. I've done the journey several times and done the return journey alone as far as Bristol Temple Meads, but decided as there was only going to be one change at Temple Meads, I would brave it. The worse that would happen is I would end up in Newcastle LOL!

I decided that I would take my luggage for the week in a holdall, so that it could stay on the back of my powerchair if needed, so I wasn't struggling to pull a suitcase along should the assistance fail to be provided by station staff, and it worked well. Bridgwater Station is only staffed part time, and the older gentleman at the desk informed me that I was on his sheet, but the onboard train staff would help as he was unable to. Once on the train, and it being the first saturday of the school holidays, I wasn't surprised in the slightest to see the wheelchair space (keep clear by law) full of suitcases, but the ticket inspector called down the carriage for them to be moved, or he would move them, and they were soon cleared, apart from one bag which wasn't in the way.

On arriving at Temple Meads, the train staff assisted me off as no-one had arrived, and I was shortly met by an apologetic member of the dispatch staff who told me that I wasn't on their list, but not to worry as they would get me on my connecting train. He was really chatty and it turned out that in the past he had done work on the computer network at the Star College in Ullenwood, where I was heading. Once I was on my connecting train it was chaos, and there were several people who were rather put out at having to move their luggage. While I understand that its not easy to travel away for a week or more and travel 'light', I do think it is rather stupid to take a suitcase that you can barely lift! I was given many filthy looks, which I just ignored. and to part quote a friend, these people chose to take luggage they obviously could not manage, I did not choose to be in a wheelchair'. Fortunatly, the journey from Temple Meads to Cheltenham Spa is only 40 minutes, and that was plenty of time for me to enjoy my salad and SW quiche, and a pot of sugar free jelly and some fruit I'd bought from home before arriving. I spent what seemed like 10 minutes waiting at the doorway of the train, waiting for the ramp, and a Mum with a baby in a buggy ended up shouting to the platform staff to tell him I was there. When he eventually came, he complained to the ticket inspector (who hadn't even checked my ticket was valid) that 'they' shouldn't put more than one wheelchair on the train, especially when he was on his own. Needless to say, I will be making a complaint as he talked over me and I felt his manner towards me was completely out of order, although I have experienced worse thanks to National Rail. Fortunatly, my taxi was waiting for me at the front of the station, and I got to the College unscathed :)