Monday, March 25, 2013

Starting as I mean to go on...

Any regular readers I may have will have noticed how sporadic my blog posting is. Sometimes I can post frequently, other times it might be months. There are a number of reasons for this, sometimes I don’t feel particularly inspired to blog, sometimes I don’t have time, and sometimes I think “Why would people want to read about that?!”. But, I’ve never had a bad reaction to my posts, and reading some other regular blogs out there, I do think I should just get into the habit of regular blogging. My every day banality may be someone elses entertainment.
So, after just being reprimanded by a colleague for not having written anything in a while, here I am again! And, although I’m not going to promise anything, I am going to try and do a weekly blog post for the next 30 days….see below for further reasoning behind this.

Given that my last post was at the end of January, I figured I’d update you on all the stuff I’ve been up to since.

Try something new for 30 days.
Just after New Year a friend told me about the wonders of Ted Talks. No, these aren’t talks held by a little furry talking teddy bear (which was the first thing I thought), but rather talks of varying length about a plethora of topics ranging from Autism to Zoology. I’m a bit of an information sponge. I love learning new things and broadening my horizons, and the first time I looked on the website I was like a child in a sweetshop, bookmarking a long list of talks to listen to at a later date. A few of these talks have stood out for me;

1: Temple Grandin’s ‘The World needs all kinds of Minds” is about her autism and how her mind thinks in pictures. (if you haven't heard of this lady, google her, she's incredible). Someone very close to me has recently been identified as autistic and I’m striving to learn more about how it can affect individuals to help my understanding and interaction with this person. The same friend who put me onto Ted Talks had also told me about the biopic Temple Grandin starring Claire Danes, knowing it would interest me. I admit I hadn’t put it to the top of my viewing list, but watching Temple's Ted talk propelled me to watch it. The talk and the biopic are both excellent, I’d recommend both to anyone.


2: Joe Smith’s 'How to use a Paper Towel' both amused me and compelled me to do something. We all know how flimsy, and seemingly useless, those paper towels in public or work bathrooms can be, and more than likely we use way more than we need. In less than 5 minutes, Joe highlights just how much excess waste is created by these towels and shows how to properly dry your hands with just one, and so reducing waste. I do it now and it works, and I smile each time I do remembering his methods. 


3: Matt Cutt's 'Try something new for 30 days' also compelled me to do something, and it was fun! The talk is exactly as it suggests, urging people to try something new for 30 days. We all know how doomed to failure New Years resolutions are, I gave up making them years ago. 30 days is a much more realistic and achievable target. The thing to be done can be anything, and he means anything. Something new to you, doesn’t matter what it is. I took his suggestion and did “30 days 30 pictures”. I shared this with my friends through my Facebook and Pinterest pages and was chuffed to get some good feedback. I enjoyed doing it, even though before I started I wondered how I’d find something to photo every day that would interest anyone else. In the end I just decided to take a picture of anything that grabbed my interest that day, no matter what it was. With the exception of Day 18 (A VERY slow picture day), I did ok I think. It makes me less afraid to just snap a picture of anything I want to now. This also explains my comment above about trying to do a weekly blog post for the next 30 days. Since I finished the picture project I’ve not taken up a new 30 day project, so blogging may just well be it. It’s now Monday 25th March, so I hereby commit to write one blog post a week (at least) until Tuesday 23rd April. I’m not going to commit to a daily blog post because that really wouldn’t be achievable for me! But, some weeks in those 30 days may garner more than one post. Stay tuned. 


My birthday celebrations
As mentioned in my last blog post it was my birthday at the end of January. I went out with my friends for a joint celebration; my birthday, Paula’s birthday and the start of the RBS 6 Nations. Much fun was had, much alcohol was consumed, and it was great to get all the girls together for a night out…something that doesn’t happen all that often given all our busy schedules.

Fun in Eddie Rockets with the girls. It wasn't as civilised as this pic suggests, believe me!
My birthday present from the girls and my sisters. An oh so tiny, personally engraved, stylishly red iPod Nano...I love it!


Holiday planning
My bestest friend in the whole wide world lives in Dubai and most years we try and holiday together. This year is no different and we’ve decided on a trip to Spain (Murcia, to her parents villa) in June for ten days, and Rome for 4 days in September. Now, I must admit, the Rome trip was planned for herself and another friend, but I got wind of it and decided I was going to come too. Flights are booked for both trips now (thanks to my work bonus!), and a Rome itinerary is drafted. The itinerary for Spain is in progress, with a trip to The Alhambra and a little 3 day road trip needing to be fully bottomed out….hang on a minute, that’s a work phrase, it has no place here, ah feck it, it’s in there now.

Other random bits:

  • Planning the trip to my eldest sisters to babysit her 3 kidlets so she can have a weekend away with her partner for her 40th in June.
  • Looking forward to a hen do in April for Paula. Can't say anything else publicly, but that event will likely command its own blog post in a few weeks.
  • Getting excited about the slightly early arrival of ZoĆ« & Richard's second child. A gorgeous, full head of haired, boy: William Michael. Meeting him soon.
  • Getting equally excited about the imminent arrival of Keri and Jonathan's second baby. After a really tough few years, this bundle of joy is deserved. Also meeting this arrival soon..provided an appearance is made in the next 8 days!
  • And finally, I'm happy about, and enjoying something else different in my life. I won't elaborate just yet, but I'll expand at some point, promise.

So, that's everything of any real interest in the last 6weeks in Sandraland (beware of low flying Sandras)
Until the next time...which will be soon! Take it easy.


Sandra. xx



4 comments:

Unknown said...

Well as we are all inviting ourselves on other people's holidays...

Unknown said...

There's a knack to it Mark. You have to do it when nothing is actually finalised other than the concept. I got in before accommodation etc was booked. Choose your times wisely!

Sara Louise said...

I thought Claire Danes did a fantastic job in the biopic.
That's all I have to say.
Oh, except I would kill for some Eddie Rocket fries right now, the ones with the melted cheese and the bacon.

Unknown said...

I had some of those the other week....nom nom nom!

She was excellent.