The End

Well, it's been a while, hasn't it? I turned 40 in November and for some reason I kept putting off doing this final blog post. After all, it's the end of an era, this blog has opened so many doors for me and helped me meet some wonderful people. Thank you to all the people that have supported me along the way. There has been highs and lows in the last four years since I set out to complete my 40 things list. Thankfully more highs and I've done an amazing amount of stuff that I would never have thought possible, being the coach potato that I am! My favourite task? Probably climbing Ben Nevis - I never thought I would ever do anything like that and now that the scars have healed I'm even thinking about climbing some more. My least favourite task was probably driving the Ferrari. I had a complete prat of an instructor that contradicted everything he said and made me come away hating the experience.

Out of my original list there are a few left that I would probably still wish to do, so I've transferred them and a few others on to a life list for my new new blog http://janette-jones.blogspot.com/. I'm also still doing the paper reviews for Radio Nottingham, so you can catch me on there once a month.
Well, I guess this is goodbye or should that be Au Revoir?

Boo!

Aha blog! Did you think I'd forgotten about you? Never! You are always at the back of my mind, always looking for another opportunity to cross one more task off my list.

I'm just back from a long weekend in sunny Scarborough. Unfortunately there never seemed to be the opportunity to complete my skinny dip task, so I will have to ear mark that for a secluded river somewhere in Nottinghamshire. I am grateful I didn't do the mass skinny dip that I talked about in a previous post, due to several reasons. The most important one is that the 'discreet' photography wasn't all that discreet having seen some of the photos in the press. Seeing my ample assets would certainly put most people off their breakfast, that's for certain.

My wonderful friend, Frenchy Phil, has sent me a French disc to spur me on to learn a new language, so you never know I may just be able to cross that task off before I turn 40.

As for my 40th itself, I can't really decide what to do. I thought about having high tea at one of the restaurants in Nottingham for all my girlfriends, but none of my friends know each other, so that could prove to be a little awkward. I think me and the husband (who turns 40 in September!) are just going to book a table at World Service. I'm hoping to have lost some of my excess baggage by then, so I may even treat myself to a new frock - push the boat out so to speak! I don't think I relish the idea of having a big do. I hate being the centre of attention at the best of times, so whatever I get up to on the day, will be discreet.

8) Go To An International Football Match In The New Wembley

When I was a die hard football fanatic, the thought of going to Wembley every season was like mecca. Thankfully I went four times as a Nottingham Forest supporter, but never quite managed to see an international match there. Wembley at that time was in dire need of a refurbishment. The whole place looked decrepit and I remember there was always a problem with the toilets over flowing.

Turn the clock forward twenty years and we now have a brand new sparkling stadium. Gone are the infamous twin towers but instead we have a stadium worthy of being our national homage.

I caught the coach with a whole host of other supporters in Nottingham, taking us just over 2hr 45mins to do the journey into Wembley. The approach is still the same, still have to go through
an industrial park to get there, but finally ending up just outside the stadium, parking in a concrete jungle.

The first view I saw was this:-

Not a bad old view is it? A fantastic structure. I was trying to relate it to how the old stadium stood, but having not been for over twenty years, it was hard to place where the twin towers once stood - I'm sure also we never used to park that close to the stadium either.

I had a good walk around the building and then located my entrance to the turnstile, which meant me climbing the stairs and walking round the side of the building, where I came across this:-


the Bobby Moore statue - captain of the 1966 World Cup team - you know the last time that England actually won something and didn't fall down on penalties! Quite a lot of people were hanging around here, which seemed to be the main meeting point. I had a wander around a bit more, bought an ice cream and a programme as you do - typical that the only day that it's blazing hot in this country and you are at a place where there is no shade!

Then the turnstiles opened and as my fair skin was beginning to get a little frazzled thought it was best to get inside and in the shade. The turnstiles are a new sophisticated system, where you place your ticket under a reader and then it beeps to allow you to push the turnstile open - so glad that I followed someone in that had done that before, because I would have just stood there not knowing what the heck to do! Then to my joy I found that I was in the noise bleed section of the stand, so five flights of stairs later (had to walk off the ice cream) I was there and thankfully the seat was just inside the entrance:-

My first view was this:-

The stadium was huge and something that my little camera couldn't really grasp the enormity of it all. I hasten to add that this was about 3:15pm when I took the photo - which was 1hr 30min before kick off. It was great to savour the atmosphere and the build up to the game. I people watched, I read my book for a little while and watched the stadium start to gradually fill up to a mind blowing 86,500 thousand people!


Which looked a little like this! The atmosphere was incredible, especially when everyone stood up to sing the national anthem. Then I have to say it fell a little flat. The game itself was dire. England were down 2-0 at one point. Some how when you don't feel that attached to the team (I barely knew any of the players and those I did know ended up going off injured) then it doesn't mean as much to see them win. But I savoured the occasion - I knew I probably wouldn't do it again. So I people watched again, which probably gives you an indication of how dire the game was and then at 80 mins I decided to head back to the coach park, as I didn't fancy coming out with the rest of the 86,000+ people.

So all in all, it was one of those tasks, very much similar to Wimbledon - glad I went, I enjoyed it whilst I was there but probably wouldn't do it again, but hey, you don't know until you try these things, do you?

My Week

Had another appearance on BBC Radio Nottingham on Wednesday, which went well as always. Also got my ticket for the England match this week - can't quite believe it's only another week away! Also was very tempted by this http://www.midsummerskinnydip.co.uk/news.php all in the name of completing another task off my list of course. Then I checked my diary and realised that I was going to my friend's daughter's Baptism - divine retribution?

I'm Alive!

Hello, you will be pleased to know that I am alive, just awfully busy at work, so busy in fact at the mo, I just seem to work, eat, sleep in a continous circle with not much chance for anything else. Need less to say my list has suffered some what. It's Murphy's law that now I am back earning a wage I can now afford to do some of the tasks that I want to but unfortunately I just don't seem to have the time to sit down and organise them.

However this weekend, I decided to change all that. I've been thinking of going to an England match at Wembley for a long time but then I had the added hassle of arriving late back in Nottingham and a little concerned about the safety aspect of doing this. So I've been waiting for a Saturday match for a while and today managed to get a ticket for the England v Switzerland match on June 4th. Another tick off my list and hopefully it will spur me on to get a few more completed before November.

33) Watch A Nottingham Forest Match From An Executive Box

Well, it's been a while hasn't it? Unfortunately settling in to a new job has left me little recreation time, but it's not all bad, especially when I get to complete another task!

I've supported Nottingham Forest football club since I was three years old and from the ages of about 18-24 pretty much lived my life down at the City Ground, watching my team week in week out. Then I guess life took over, my friends stopped going, I went out more, discovered boys and drinking, as you do, but I still supported them from afar.

I think in all my times of going down to watch them, I must have sat in every stand at some point, but the pinnacle to me was always a seat in an Executive box. I can't explain why I wanted to watch from there, but it just seemed so luxurious compared to the rough and tumble of the stands and there was also that aspect of it being so unobtainable, after all, it cost a small fortune to hire one out.

I haven't been to a match at Nottingham Forest for well over ten years due to the fact that football doesn't feature so heavily in my life any more, plus my husband cannot stand the game, so I sort of got out of the habit of not watching it even when it was on TV. But occasionally some thing happened that meant I drove over Trent Bridge and I would look at the ground and it would just bring back a flood of memories of the times I spent there. Then I got this new job, working for a non profit organisation and I had to liaise with the football clubs in Nottingham and suddenly I was back at the ground, reliving the memories and well I may have mentioned to my contact if there was any possibility of getting a seat in an Exec box. They did one better! I got a call on Friday to say that we had a whole box to our selves to do with what we wished. So I rang around and managed to sell some tickets with all proceeds going to the charity. So on Tuesday against Burnley, which is not possibly the most glamorous match in the world, we drove to the ground and we being my husband and me - yes I got him to his first ever Forest match!

We were greeted on arrival and given tickets to the box and a free match day programme, purchased a drink and then went to our box. It was a lot smaller than what I'd anticipated - it seats 8 but I think you would be struggling to get 8 big blokes in there. Incredibly nice though to just sit and chill and watch the stadium fill up in front of you and not having to wear layer upon layer of clothing to stay warm on a cold Nottingham evening. What was even better was the fact that there was a TV in the room and once the match started it switched to the Nottingham Forest match also on the screen so you got a commentary as you watched the match. It also gave me chance to people watch big time, as you could see into each box (I would presume so you haven't got restricted view of the pitch). There is obviously still quite a lot of money around Nottingham as the woman in the box next to me had a multitude of designer accessories including a sort after Chanel hand bag!

It was a pretty dire first half I have to admit but second half saw it liven up with two goals by Forest to seal the victory. It was almost like old times seeing them win again - I half expected Psycho to come running down the left flank, but it was not to be...

So my first ever Executive box match at Forest was a success. I certainly don't think it was any less of any atmosphere being in the box than sitting outside in the stands and it's certainly something that I wouldn't mind doing again. Plus all ticket monies sold went straight to the charity I work for - even better!

The French Thing...

So on and off I've been listening to French on my I-pod as I walk to work. It isn't working. I'm okay with the first chapter or so, but then my mind starts to wander and before I know it I've missed sections. It doesn't help that the recording is full of stuff that I wouldn't probably ask for in English never mind a foreign language. I'm a little bored to say the least. So this afternoon I've written out 40 sentances, phrases, words and numbers that would be of the most use to me and I'm going to see how I get on with those. I'm hoping it won't take too long...

And for those who listen in, my next radio spot is this Wednesday, 16th March - around 08:30am.

An Update...

Well apart from having the week from hell this week, which involved me being back in Nottingham and for part of the week my car being in Solihull (won't go in to it, but it was all to do with a well know break down service and their lack of customer service) I am still attempting to learn French! I am finding it pretty difficult due to the fact that I have the memory capacity of a goldfish, but I'm hoping the more I listen to the disc, the more will sink in. So far I know how to order a coffee, tea and beer, none of which I drink...

Some Good News...

Well, it's been a while, hasn't it? Nearly a month since I last posted and probably one of the longest times I've gone without posting since I started this blog. So what's new, well... I have a job! I've started working for a charity as a Community Fundraiser, which is an area that I really wanted to get into but there never seemed to be the right roles, until now. I've just completed my first week and apart from the fact that I've started at their busiest times of year, I love it! I love being busy and it seems to have unearthed the old Janette that is highly motivated and wanting to be a success. Long may it continue!

Of course I'm still thinking about this blog and trying to at least plan some of the outstanding tasks into my busy working life (never thought I'd ever be saying that again!) In particular I'm also conscious that I started to learn French and then abandoned it half way through December and I hate leaving things half finished. Well, I now walk to work, so I've down loaded some French phrases on my I-pod and in the half an hour it takes me to walk in, I can listen to at least 5 sections of my French dialogue (it has 10 collectively). Here's hoping that it doesn't take me too long to learn them all and I can cross another task off my list!

And just before I go, I'm on BBC Radio Nottingham tomorrow (14th Feb) at 8:30am approx. Hope you can tune in!

Where I'm At

Well my first radio appearance of this year is done and dusted thank you very much and went okay. Unfortunately my good intentions of starting back learning French went slightly astray this week when my feeling grotty suddenly turned into gastric flu, not pleasant and I won't go in to any more detail about that!

So what beholds me in 2011? Well I'm going to try and enjoy life. A simple request you may feel, but the last six months of being unemployed have not been great and have had more downs then ups. I figured I could spend the rest of my time at home miserable or I could turn it into something positive (circa Field of Dreams; if I'm positive a job will come!) So I'm going to take each day as it comes and try and knock a few more tasks of my list in the meantime.

One final thought, a few people have started to ask what I'm going to do with this blog once I've hit 40. Well I've always been conscious that this blog is about my 40 things and that I don't stray too far from that, so unless it's task related then it won't be updated after November. However, after several failed attempts I have started another blog which will be continued after my 40th, which is here if you are interested my other blog. It's mostly about my writing but it will cover other aspects of my life as well.

Right back to the French me thinks...

Happy New Year

It's been a while since I posted here. I feel the need to apologise for my absence, but December ran away from me, as I guess it did for everyone. Well new year, new me or that's what I'm hoping! After I've finished with the old learning of French (hoping to complete Feb/March time) going to try and cram in as much as I can before I turn the big 4-0 in November (gulp, where did all the time go since starting this blog?)

Any ways, keep reading and following and hopefully I won't disappoint in the completion of tasks!

I'm also on BBC Radio Nottingham this Wednesday if you want to listen on at around 8:30am.

Parlez-vous Francais?

This week, I will be mostly listening to my new ear worms french CD. This has 200+ essential words and phrases anchored into your long term memory with great music, or so it claims! I'm hoping by the end of the week, I will at least be able to speak a smattering of French - here's hoping anyway!

Saving Animals

Yesterday morning was spent mostly writing. I Joined Activate, a Born Free campaign group about a year ago and every 2 months I write letters to the Heads of countries where the designated animals are, hoping to get them released from captivity. It's an easy enough task. Born Free provide you with all the info and it only takes around 30 minutes to draft and write a letter to the relevant person.

So far I haven't had a reply from anyone, but I think this is quite normal. I've tried sending emails and snail mail but still nothing. I'm hoping that one day I will and even better that one of the animals I'm campaigning to be released is actually taken from a life of misery and cruelty and put back in it's natural environment.

Sadly the two bears still languish in a pit in Berlin, Lucy the elephant is still kept indoors in Toronto and 18 Dolphins are still confined to a training regime in the Philippines, all of these I've written letters to the relevant people in the hope that they will be released. Thankfully Tom and Misha, the two Dolphins rescued from Turkey are now in a deep sea pen in a peaceful marina - this happened quite quickly after we were sent details of the campaign, so I can't claim a helping hand in that one!

If you want to get involved, please visit - Born Free, I'm sure a few more people putting some weight behind one of the campaigns will make all the difference and you never know I may just be able to cross another task off my list ( 15. Rescue an animal from captivity).

13) Read all the BBC Top 100 Reads

Well, it has taken me a while to do this (this was one of the original tasks I started over three years ago!) but finally today I have read the last page of A Suitable Boy and therefore completed reading all of the BBC Top 100 reads. It hasn't been an easy task. There have been some books that were personal favourites that took little to no time to complete, there were others that within the first chapters I found them tedious and incredibly difficult to complete and then there were others that complete took me by surprise, that I wouldn't have thought that I would have enjoyed but I did.

It has been a long task, one that I thought would never complete but it has taught me a lesson that I can't love all books, even though my premise of completing the task was to push myself into reading books I wouldn't otherwise have chosen, sometimes that didn't work when I felt like throwing some out of the window.

Below is my list of the books that stood out for me:-

The Ones That Surprised Me
1. Nineteen Eighty Four - George Orwell
2. War and Peace - Leo Tolstoy
3. The Pillars Of The Earth - Ken Follett
4. A Prayer For Owen Meany - John Irving
5. A Town Like Alice - Nevil Shute
6. The Shell Seekers - Rosamunde Pilcher
7. The Stand - Stephen King
8. The Clan Of The Cave Bear - Jean M Auel
9. Kane & Abel - Jeffrey Archer
10. Holes - Louis Sachar

The Ones That I Nearly Threw Out Of The Window
1. Pride and Prejudice - Jane Austen
2. Catch 22 - Joseph Heller
3. Middlemarch - George Eliot
4. One Hundred Years Of Solitude - Gabriel Garcia Marquez
5. Treasure Island - Robert Louis Stevenson
6. Dune - Frank Herbert
7. The Count Of Monte Cristo - Alexandre Dumas
8. Crime & Punishment - Fyodor Dostoyevsky
9. The Magus - John Fowles
10. The Woman In White - Wilkie Collins

And now, quite happily I can attack my to be read shelf and as for my tasks, I'm on to the learning a new language next.

I don't Speak French Part 2

Now that I've nearly finished my BBC Top 100 reads, I've been debating whether or not to do any more tasks this side of Christmas. Then this morning in my in box, up popped this:- Groupon, which is a voucher for ear worms, a musical brain training cd that allows you to learn key words and phrases for a chosen language. For a fiver I thought it was worth trying out and hopefully by Christmas I might have another task to tick off!

One Down, One To Go...

Just under 1500 pages - I'm thinking I should finish this in a week?

Reading and Take That

So I'm on track with my reading target so far with just two weeks to go and three books left to read before I can finally cross the BBC Top 100 reads task off my list. It has been an incredibly challenging task at times, one which I've struggled with on a number of occasions. There have been times when I've felt like throwing some books at the wall, I've been so frustrated with them, but I've persevered and much as I love books this task has at least taught me that I can't love all books.

And whilst I am here...Take That went slowly down in my estimation when I heard Robbie was rejoining them, to the extent where I seriously thought of changing my task to something else. Then I watched the documentary last night and I'm kind of back on their side again, so you never know I may just manage to fulfill my task, but then of course I now have 5 to snog...

The Godfather - BBC Top 100 Reads 96/100

I must be the only person in England not to have seen any of The Godfather films - for some reason the sense of violence that I imagine them to portray has never appealed to me and perhaps made me more than a little apprehensive about sitting down to read the book. The essence of this novel is about families, how they react with one another, how their loyalties lie within their extended families and how they observe the outsiders that threaten to penetrate their domains. The violence is there but is kept in short, sharp amounts and doesn't over exaggerate the actions. I completely enjoyed this saga of the 1940's criminal under world and it would be interesting now to see how the film relates to what I've just read. Another one completed off my list - just 4 more to go.

Happy Belated Birthday...

Another radio appearance today and a little different to the last ones, in the sense that I chose to cross a picket line in order to get into the building and record my paper reviews - staff are striking largely down to the pension cuts that the BBC are proposing. A very strange start to the morning and hopefully something I won't have to do again.

Due to my birthday on Wednesday, it's now just under a year to go on this blog and 19 tasks left to complete before I turn 40. Currently got 4.5 books left to read on the BBC Top 100 list before I can tick that one off and then I can start to progress on some of the others. Hopefully I can tick a few more off the list this year and then try and complete as many as I can in 2011. It will be interesting to see what opportunties I get to complete the other tasks still outstanding on my list. Not sure where life is taking me at the moment, but what ever happens, hopefully I'll have some more completed tasks to talk about.

A Prayer For Owen Meany - BBC Top 100 Reads

If I'd started to write this review half way through reading this, it would have been one of those posts where I bemoaned the fact that I struggled to comprehend the meaning of this novel. However, every now and again a book comes along that completely surprises me and turns out to be nothing like what I expected to be - A Prayer For Owen Meany is a definite slow burner, which I am so glad I stuck with.

The main narrative of the book is undertaken by John, a childhood friend of the very strange Owen Meany. In fact, Owen is declared so strange that the author types his conversation in capitals. Although there is a very loose story that never seems to go anyway, the author cleverly weaves us through key incidents in Owen's/John's life, dealing with death and prejudice along the way. A repetitive tale that follows them from childhood into adulthood all becomes apparent near the end of the novel and makes the conclusion complete. A wonderful book.