Today I've Been.......

Mostly watching my friend Dave doing a 10k run and spending time with Frenchy Phil. Ooh, I've also been getting prepared for my London trip next week and my visit to The Ritz for tea, which will be another tick off my list. Think I may also be booking a deluxe suite whilst I'm there at £1945 - not!

The Novel

So I've started to write my novel, after many years of procrastinating. So far I'm up to 5043 words. Caroline Smailes, whose blog regulary makes me laugh out loud, is currently on book 3 and 17312 words. I guess Caroline is winning at the moment.

Still Training.....

Training is still going well for the Ben Nevis Mountain Challenge. I've now lost 9lbs, which equates to losing one of my bellies, just two more to go...

I had a slight dilemma though today. I was hurrying to get changed for my lunch time run and turned round and found my pants floating in the toilet. Thankfully they were not the pants I should have been wearing, but a mere spare pair that had found their way into my training bag and in my haste to pull everything out, had gone for a swim. That could have been a very embarrassing afternoon at work....

Right Here Is Where You Start Paying In Sweat....

My work colleagues are having an abundance of being famous for 15 minutes scenarios.

Sarah is in the May edition of Marie Claire and has just spent the weekend in Regents Park with Nell McAndrew, getting her baps out for Cancer Research.

Emma is in the April edition of Rosemary Conleys Health & Fitness magazine in a three page spread.

Lee is being interviewed by Channel 4 for a parenting documentary.

I'm hoping for a Vogue photo shoot and a spot on Richard and Judy.

I think I will be waiting a long time....!

Fundraising and Training - oh my!

I've entered week two of my training schedule for the Ben Nevis Mountain Challenge this week. I'd love to say it's been easy, but I would be lying somewhat if I did! I'm still a long way off what I need to be, to do the trek comfortably, but hey, Rome wasn't built in a day and I still have a few months yet! I've also been busy fundraising at work and have managed to raised £170 so far. My aim is to raise £500 and then I can get work to cash match it and hopefully raise £1000 in total. I've uploaded my fundraising page, so please, please, sponsor me, just press the link below and it couldn't be easier!

Ben Nevis Mountain Challenge

I'm filling out the forms for my Ben Nevis mountain challenge, which I have chosen to do for my 'sponsored hike for charity' section on my list. I'm feeling a little meloncholy as I chose this challenge to help raise money for the Marie Curie Cancer Care, a charity which helped support my cousin in his last days, before he died of cancer in October 2007. The sad thing is that I never really knew my cousin as an adult. Like most families we saw alot of each other as children, but then drifted apart as we got older. I'm so determined to complete this for him, just to say thanks for the wonderful memories I have of us growing up together.

Radio Nottingham Part 2

So, I made my second appearance on Radio Nottingham today and was interviewed by the lovely Frances Finn. I ran through a few things on my list and what I'd already achieved and the stuff I had planned for this year. Kind of kicked my butt somewhat and made me realise that I've got to start getting my finger out if I'm ever going to complete this list. Here's to the next item that I complete!

Go To The Ballet

As a child, I loved to dance. I even went to modern, ballroom and disco classes, but for some reason I was never allowed to go to ballet. I can remember begging for ballet shoes, one birthday, of which my Mother refused to purchase (no doubt as she wisely knew it was just a passing phase and in another month's time they would be discarded as many of my toys were). I even took out ballet books from the library and learnt all the proper steps (worringly I can still remember some of them!)

So for nostalgia purposes, the ballet was added to my list of things to do and for my birthday this year, my darling husband bought me tickets to see The Nutcracker. He also took me to a restaurant that resembled Fawlty Towers, but that story is for another time and place and not for this particular part of my blog!

The Nutcracker tells the story of a young girl called Clara, who's uncle gives her a toy soldier that magically comes to life whilst she sleeps and turns into a Prince who successfully defeats the Mouse King. The nature of the story and time of year, perhaps attracted a younger audience then I would expect at a ballet performance, therefore we spent most of the first couple of acts repeatingly getting kicked in the back from a bored child behind us - not really what you need for quite an expensive night out!

When I have a relatively easy task on my list to do, I like to gain as much as I can from the experience and decided to emmerse myself into the performance. Not too sure about the first couple of acts, as it tended to be more on the modern side, almost as if someone had said 'express yourself in the freedom of dance', but when the 'real' ballet began it was amazing to watch. The dancers were so agile and the costumes so exquisite. In a Katherine Tate sort of way 'I could do that' I told myself, of course forgetting that I instead of growing upwards, I grew outwards.

My favourite part was in the third act when the ballerinas danced in front of a snow topped tree background and the dance of the sugar plum fairy, after the defeat of the Mouse King. I'm sure every young girl aspired to be the super plum fairy at one stage in their life!

There is a real talent in dancing ballet, of which I don't think you appreciate until you actually watch a performance live. When you imagine the hours of practice it must take to get half as good as the dancers we saw, it exhausts me just thinking about it! I don't feel ballet as a whole is something that I could get totally into, but I would at least like to see another performance, to make a final decision. Swan Lake, here I come!

Read All Of The BBC Top 100 Reads - Part 1

From an early age, I've always been quite content to just curl up in a chair with a good book, so apart from the quantity matter, this may be one of my easiest tasks to complete on my list.

Reading to me has always been a sanctuary, a means of escape from the pressures of everyday life and somewhere to go to for a little peace and quiet. From the very first book that I read, I've been hooked and will read almost anything minus anything that resembles a Mills & Boon.

The best thing about doing something like this, is that you get to read books that you wouldn't have normally chosen to read and get to discover new authors that you have never thought of considering previously.

Harry Potter - J K Rowling - with 4 books on the list, I decided to see what all the fuss was about and bite the bullet and read the whole of the series (I don't usually like to read any books that receive as much hype as these). Loved the first book - thought it was on par with Roald Dahl and quite liked the others, except for when she obviously clicked that adults had started to read her books and suddenly from a good childrens author she sold out to a wider market. The Great Gatsby - F Scott Fitzgerald/The Catcher In The Rye - J D Salinger - classic American literature. The Hitchhikers Guide To The Galaxy - Douglas Adams - don't like reading Sci Fi as a rule but enjoyable enough. The Hobbit - J R R Tolkien - first read this as an eleven year old - wonderful story, can't wait to see what the film turns out like. Goodnight Mister Tom - Michelle Magorian - I'm a big fan of childrens books and this was a wonderful story that didn't disappoint. Anne Of Green Gables - L M Montgomery - in danger of losing out to a very good TV series in the late eighties - the book was not quite as good but can relate to Anne quite easily. Bridget Jones Diary - Helen Fielding - another character I can relate to and classic chic lit! Captain Corelli's Mandolin - Louis De Bernieres - if you ever pick up this book, please, please, bear with it. The first third is a real challenge, but once you are through that, the book is a wonderful tale of love and conflict and definitely, defintely better than the dire film! Jane Eyre - Charlotte Bronte - I love the older, classic books. The plots are so much better and this is a classic tale of a young orphan's life and the man she falls in love with. The Lion, The Witch And The Wardrobe - C S Lewis - wonderful children's tale that remains timeless but reading the book as an adult, the religion hidden between the lines is alot more evident. Little Women - Louisa May Alcott - found this dreary and much prefer the original film version. Lord Of The Flies - William Golding - one of those books that is still relevant to todays society. Place a bunch of individuals together and watch the survival of the fittest. One Hundred Years Of Solitude - Gabriel Garcia Marquez - couldn't get into this at all and didn't see what all the fuss was about! Ditto Persuasion - Jane Austen. Rebecca - Daphne Du Maurier - Loved it, loved it, loved it! From the opening paragraph you are hooked on this and doesn't disappoint it at all - can't quite believe that when I was re-reading this to complete the list, someone actually stopped me and asked what it was about as they had never read it! The Secret Garden - Frances Hodgson Burnett - classic children's tale - why do we have to rely on wizards and magic in order for our children to start reading again, when there are so many other wonderful stories out there? Swallows & Amazons - Arthur Ransome - one of my magical finds from reading this list. Wonderful tale that brought back so many memories of the adventures that I used to get upto on my school holidays. The Thorn Birds - Colleen McCollough - I was a little too young to appreciate the classic mini series but the book didn't disappoint at all. A wonderful through the generations tale of a family and the love that grows between a young girl and a priest. To Kill A Mockingbird - Harper Lee - another classic tale that I first read as a 15 year old - one of those wonderful tales that never disappoints no matter how many times you pick it up. Treasure Island - Robert Louis Stevenson - classic tale but didn't do anything for me. The Wind In The Willows - Kenneth Grahame - another classic children's book that doesn't disappoint as an adult.

Pphew! 25 books read, digested and crossed off my list - here's to the next 25!

Go To An Ice Hockey Match

In a city that is more famous for it's gun crime, hooded outlaw and it's once footballing European champions, ice hockey is almost like the forgotten sport of Nottingham.

What's more surprising is that the Nottingham Panthers team, was first formed in 1946, yet it's only now in 2007 that I came to be at the Ice Stadium for my first ever ice hockey match.

'To watch an ice hockey match' is no. 31 on my list of 40 things to do before I'm 40 and was also the 6th item on my list to be completed. What better match to choose from then against the Sheffield Steelers (the footballing equivalent of Forest v Derby local derby).

From the moment I stepped into the ice stadium the scene was set for an incredible night. Our seats were positioned on the front row adjacent to the ice and the Sheffield Steelers fans were positioned to our left, which created an awesome atmosphere. The fan base was just incredible. The stadium itself was full to capacity and the passion for the sport was evident throughout both sets of supporters. The passion was certainly something I didn't expect. After going to the football for many seasons and feeling very passionate about that, I don't think ice hockey would be something I would personally get passionate over but people did and especially the women! There was some excellent examples of scary women there, non more scary than the girl who was obviously a girlfriend of one of the players, that rushed to the front and started banging on the glass, shouting "get off him you b*****d" when she saw her other half being beaten up by the apposing player.

One other good thing about the position of our seats was that it gave you a true indication of the velocity and speed, the players moved along the ice at and also made you aware of how physical the game was, bordering on the lines of being agressive. It certainly is not a game for wimps!

Although we came out the losers (2:1 to the Steelers), I thoroughly enjoyed my first ever ice hockey match and it would be certainly something that I would do again in the near future.