Exhausted

Seems that I haven't slept for ages, I cannot wait for my lie in tomorrow! Then I go to Portugal for a week from Tuesday.

Batman, Alfred, Robin.

Completed the Race For Life earlier with my sister Vicky and my friend Sandy. Dressed as Batman and Robin again this year, with people shouting "LOOK ITS BATMAN AND ROBIN" meant that we actually had to keep running, pressure was on! We definitely needed the Batmobile for the last 1k but completed in 38 mins! Sandy completed in 41, which is good going seeing as she busted her ankle the other day, nice one Sond.
We all know someone that has battled cancer, lost or is still fighting. It was pretty emotional, but for once I managed to hold back the tears; until I was home. We all laughed, I kept making sure we didn't read anyone's back signs, and it was our own signs that made me sad. I know Ali would have been laughing at the state of our sweaty selves once we crossed the finish line and at our costumes - that can only make me smile.

Currently eating cheese and onion McCOYS and watching season six of House MD, looking forward to my holiday so I can read some new books, haven't been able to read in a while!

Until I am back from holiday, thats all I have

xxxx

One Month.

May is over, today marks a month since my friend Ali passed away. I still think she's here, even though she's gone. I want to speak to her even though I know I can't. I have listened to the James Morrison song on repeat since the 17th, it played at her funeral. I do it because it makes me remember it was real, that she is gone. It’s not working yet.
It was a lovely send off, seeing as she planned it all it had to be. As bad a situation as it was , it was nice to finally meet the people she always spoke about, she got us to meet in the end. Trust Ali to make it this way. With all this being said she put up such a long fight, never moaned unless she was bitching about chores or Logan (her Labrador), always smiled, always made me laugh and was always there for me. I have lost one of my best friends, she's irreplaceable.

May 1st 2012 Ali was 22 

May 3rd 2012 she passed away 

May 17th 2012 we all said goodbye to Ali, for bringing such great, difficult and funny memories into our lives

May 8th 2006 I was diagnosed with cancer

May 2011 I was discharged 

May is a very mixed emotion fuelled month, I could go on and on deeper but enough feelings are on here already without even being spoken. 

I passed my first year on my foundation degree course! I don’t have any college until September now so I am hoping ill get some sleep and awesome summer times. 

Me and Sond face are off to Portugal on the 12th June for a week, I want to swim with dolphins but it’s too expensive! I have two books for the holiday – Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas and On The Road. Flip flops, books, music and sun cream. 

I am going to the invisible circus tonight with a couple of people - Sandy, Nikki and Sandy’s friend Keith ... am I missing someone? Probably. 

I will take my camera and hopefully get some ace photos so I will post them up shortly… I still have to upload photos from my sister’s birthday from the 29^th May! Ahh I am well and truly slacking. That’s just standard for me though. Maybe I’ll get better at that, I really need to.

Me and Nikki are also planning/saving to go to Whistler next year, I am trying however to convince her to go this year, but next year sounds a bit more promising. Summer or winter, we haven’t decided yet!? Any ideas? Maybe Summer and then a winter visit a year or two after? Haha.

I miss my Portsmouth visits already, I’ve made a promise to myself to go and visit Carole and Ali’s friends over there during summer. Maybe I’ll steal her dog Logan. Ha, maybe not, one Labrador is possibly enough for me to handle, and Logan; well he’s a nutcase.

That concludes June’s first blog post, it is a little bit all over the place but that’s just how my mind is. You’ll get used to it =)

Until next time, stay classy.

I Won't Let You Go - James Morrison

Rest In Peace Ali x

xx Alexandra Peart xx

So, this seems to be the first post of the year... that’s pretty shocking. Not too bad though providing no one actually reads this?

Well, I’m nearly at the end of my first year on my FdA course! Deadline is the 29^th, and boy oh boy do I have A LOT to do.... so I should be doing it really, not talking to myself on here. It’s been a bit of a crazy year.

One of my best friends passed away on the 3^rd May at 5.30am, she sadly lost the battle against her brain tumour ‘Terry’, but she put up the biggest fight against it; whilst carrying on with her life. 

Ali was and always will be one of the greatest people I will ever know. I met her through Clic Sargent, had she not had Cancer I would never have known her. We used to say that to each other all the time, her funeral is tomorrow and I am still convinced I will see her. I can’t quite believe I will never see her again. I don’t know if this is normal, or if I’m insane, I’ve just never lost anyone close to me and I didn’t think I’d ever have to say goodbye, especially to someone so amazing. Her mum Carole has said I can stay the night, which will be nice to be around her family, and say a proper goodbye. 

If you didn’t know Ali then you missed out! The 4 years that I knew her, are some of the best memories in my life. She is probably the only person that ever knew how I really felt about my time with cancer without feeling awkward, and I know she felt comfortable in talking about it to me. She never really said a bad word despite how hard a time she had with it all. The tumour was very much part of her personality, after all she even named him. ‘Terry’ made life hard for Ali but not once did I hear her complain, she enjoyed her life and did as much as she could within the time frame she was given.

The last time I saw her was in January during a visit to her doctor. I went into the room with Carole (her mum) and was told then and there how much time she had left to live. Me and Carole were in a worst state than Ali. Turns out it was Ali comforting me! It takes a lot to hear such devastating news, but it takes a truly beautiful and inspiring person to handle it so gracefully.

I keep saying to myself ‘I should’ve visited sooner’ but in fact I had tickets to visit just 3 days after she died, as much as I keep putting myself down I know  that she would be telling me I was stupid and to shut up!

She passed away peacefully, and with her family at her side. One of the greatest people I will ever know,

Miss Alexandra Peart, sweet dreams xxx

If you have any money to spare, it should be given to Clic Sargant in memory of Ali. Without them, I would never have met such an amazing person.

http://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/fundraiser-web/fundraiser/showFundraiserProfilePage.action?userUrl=Alipeartchantler

Wideopenmag End Of Season Party; hosted by Monster Energy

Didn't know whether this fits the personal blog or the photo one (even though I didn't take my camera..we'll get to that) sooo its on both blogs! Double whammy and all that!

On the19th November 2011 the guys at Wide Open Magazine threw a huge end of season show. I'm trying to get more into sports photography (which is pretty damn hard, but I love what results you can achieve so I'll keep trying)...it seemed a good chance to dance like an idiot and meet some local riders and some not so local.
I was debating on whether or not to take the camera...decided against it as I never have alcohol anywhere near my camera, I'm not that stupid and care too much for it! Maybe next year though I'll take it and find someone to escort it home safely. So thanks to Sandy and Dan from No Limits Photography for the photographs used.

Mr Sam Pilgrim

Me, my friend Sandy and sister Vicky headed to the Warehouse nightclub in Bristol for about 10pm, headed straight to the bar and was greeted by the full set of teeth boy that is Sam Pilgrim, he bought our drinks for the night as well as a couple of his other mates; thanks again guys!
I met Sam last month at Oktoberfest whilst taking behind the scene photos for Mercedes-Benz Vito Sport and Bike Riders United whilst they filmed their How-To videos. Lovely guy, bit of a party animal and possibly the greatest MC in the making...naaaat. Ha ha!!



Rum & Monster mixer in hand and a quick chat with Sam & co me, Vicky and Sandy head to the dance floor where we bump into a few people.... - Olly Wilkins, Sam Reynolds, Jacob Gibbins and the guy that told me about the night Jamie Edwards!!....Was great to meet some more riders who were a bit confused as to how i knew who they were haha. It was awesome to meet Jacob too; all of who were in a bit of a delicate state at this point. Great photography here by Jacob (great inspiration...adore his work!)

After too much rum, a toilet stop was needed. Some girls looking in the mirror looked to me and said "sorry you have to put up with these bike riders, they're a bit wild" i was mega confused and wouldn't be there if i didn't want to be...and so responded with the drunken response of "Its okay, I'm in my element, I'm Sam's photographer" haha was pretty hilarious for a while, but the shrieking girls soon annoyed me so it was back to the dance floor and more rum stops at the bar. Being short seemed to have its advantages, no one was serving me due to my short nature so people just added my drinks to their order free of charge, boom, thank you muchly!

I'm aware that if you have actually got to this point you A) Have nothing better to do, B) Think I'm amazing and love to read my crap or C) you are bored... potentially D) You want me to get you in with the Pilgrimnator, sorry girls you're on your own.

By midnight I think between me, Vicky and Sandy we had pretty much polished off the Captain Morgans so continued to dance.....earlier in the night i recall doing some sort of limbo-dance and falling over whilst attempting to dance on the slippery Monster floor....i decided to laugh at myself on the floor for a bit and turn it into a sexy floor dance, 6 people all held their hands out to help me up which was nice...my bum however three days on is still pretty sore. About 3am we decided our beds needed to see us so we dragged ourselves to a taxi. Some guys that were also in the party wanted to talk to us...bit dodge one of them had his belt undone after peeing behind a bin so he says...so we avoided that like a plague and stumbled into a taxi.

I remember a hell of a lot more, but pretty sure this is boring now, and most of it might be too explicit to go into detail haha...until next time lets start convincing Jamie for a Start Of Season party next year??


Enjoy these!.....

Olly 'cool eyes' Wilkins

Sandy NUKEPROOF Sond

Sweaty Sticker Face

Sam Pilgrim (his tooth dissapeared throughout the night) Jamie Edwards and Moi.

My sis Vicky, me and Sandy. 

 Love you big time WideOpen Mag!!

Facebook:

WideOpenMag 

Jacob Gibbins

Sam Pilgrim

Sam Reynolds

Twitter: @Sampilgrim @samreynolds26, @wideopenmag, @JacobGibbins

August through to the start of September

August was pretty busy, I spent a lot of it with Andy's mum Lynda which was nice to do as I wont be able to chill once college starts. Oh yeah I'm starting a Foundation Degree in Photography, the enrolment started yesterday, met some of the students who all seem pretty cool so im very much looking forward to the hard work of something i enjoy!

Currently sat in my pjs as I catch up on here..so its time to shower and get myself out in what seems to be at last summer!

Race For life Bristol 2011; The Downs

Soooo!! A week ago today I raised £600 for Cancer Research and ran the 5k with my sister Vicky in 33minutes! BOOM. She went as Batman and i was her sidekick Robin (my idea of course!) This was my first race, my sisters and friends did it in 2007 whilst I was undergoing treatment/rehabilitation so unfortunately I was unable to join the in the race or be there to support. So I thought what better way to celebrate/give something back from being in complete remission and discharged from hospital after a long difficult 5years than to do the race with my sister, and friends at the finish line!
Me and Vicky did a fair bit of training, but not as much as we should have, I blame doritios. Vicky having done the course before knew the route and so we ran this a few times to get our selves comfortable with what was coming, on the day and whilst running the course Vicky says the route is different! I had nothing to compare it to really so I wasn't too phased, a lot of it was on grass though which we both find quite difficult to run on, we walked a few minutes and then ran/jogged the rest. When we say the 2k sign we both said 'IS THAT ALL?' lots of children, and parents started singing the batman theme tune so we carried it on. I dodged all the dogs and chubby Labrador trying not to run into the back of a chlid, tripped over a jack Russell at some point; flea bag. We saw a 4k sign, but didn't recall the 3k....i Could hear cheers and so knew the finish line was near, Angel my eldest sister had told me to sprint the finish and so me and Batman flew, literally, we are superheroes afterall. As we approached the finish line I see my friends and family on the side cheering us on with their camera phones out (queue sweaty pictures) I hear someone through a megaphone saying "is that Batman and robin I see?!!!" at that point I knew me and Vicky had to run faster, the pressure was on! We cross the finish line, sweat pouring off our faces we collect our medal, goodie back and get our photo taken by Heart fm. Our family and friends join us, we pose for a few more photos and then Batman and Robin made haste to the batmobile.

I ran for Ali Peart because she is one of the strongest people I know x.

Thanks to the following for their donations:

Mum & Dad
Andy
Angel & Lee
Sandy
Sophie & Matt
Emma & Susan Day
Cameron
Kuya Arnel
Lynda & Bob
Jane & Mark Tsang
Josette   
Faith
Emma Loch
Izzy & Simon
Christine
Judith
Mike
Sammy
Geraldine
Hannah
Rosie
Oliver H
Rajnee
Fabienne
Andres
Lewis
Julian
Ali
Nadine
Claire

SPRINT!

wave to the camera superheroes

cape pose

standard pose

33 minutes!!!!!!! SWEAT

Nike trousers :(

Hmm

So this may not interest any of you (Or my two followers) but when me and Andy went on holiday with my friend Soph for her birthday (about two years ago?) he bought me a bangin' pair of nike trousers. They were from the Nike store at the airport and were a limited 'one of a kind' range; costing £90 =/. I literally lived in them, which is why im confused as to where theyve gone and how ive lost them?

My conclusion is someone stole them, and if this is true i wish you burn in hell and have a life full of utter crap.

R.I.P nike trousers xx

We The People Festival; Bristol 4th June 2011

Well well well, the sun was shining (ish...grey clouds were hiding it) me and two friends made our way into town from Bedminster and I felt a slight shower of rain beginning to take place, not a good sign. We got into the centre of town at roughly 2pm ate at Start The Bus where we met another friend for our festival shin dig. We decided to eat as much as possible as we guessed the prices inside We The People would probably be insanely high, we were truly unsatisfied by the food provided, wont be going back there for a while. They used to do really good food, but since changing their menu it's not really been as good as it used to be. After leaving start the bus we decided to grab a drink before entering the festival, so we made way to The Apple before entering the 'no re-entry' site that is We The People. The Apple had a huge queue so instead we went to The Old Duke and we were served straight away, the other three settled for ciders whilst i got my rum fix.
The sun was struggling to get through the clouds but it still remained warm. By about 4pm we decided to make our way to the festival seeing as two of us (myself included) had spent £38 on tickets we wanted to get the most out of it, the other two luckily managed to bag tickets off groupon for £17 which I'm annoyed at, i wish i didn't buy my ticket straight away because this festival was lacking a lot to charge £38.

We walked in, looked around and within seconds we realised we'd imagined this festival to be like Bristol Harbourside's fest and it wasn't as big as i thought it would be, or as the others had deemed it to be. There were two stages, one stall that i only noticed 3 hours after being in the festival after paying a ridiculous amount of money for chips and there were minimal porta loos. I think the festival would have struggled if this was a sell out, especially with one bar.
Music was playing and we had walked into the middle of a set by Centralspillz, they finish with 'private number' but unfortunately the sound levels were a bit muffled so i couldn't really make out what was being said when they were talking, but they definitely got me and my friends in the 'festival mood'. Once they finished we made our way to the toilets. LONG queues and not enough toilets for the amount of people waiting, i spent a lot of time in a queue, the best times to go were during the last song by whatever artist was on stage.

Elliot 'Example' Gleave was big, luckily the levels on the main stage were a bit better, people were dancing and the atmosphere was starting to get a bit more lively. His new single 'Changed The Way You Kissed Me' was a definite hit and an obvious favourite with fans new and old. He finished his set, with everyone buzzing for more. Ive seen Example once before at BeachBreak Festival and he is a great crowd pleaser, this guy will go far if not already.

We made our way to the bar, as did everyone else in the festival. With one bar and at £4 for a can of Pear Gaymers and £4 for a coke, I decided to take two cans of cider and save one for later. I didn't go back to the bar after that. Don't get me wrong this festival was a great idea, and the acts i went for (Chase and Status, Example and Annie Mac) made it worthwhile, it just could have had a lot more to it. The chance of re-entry would have been an added bonus, it felt claustrophobic not being allowed to leave, it felt like we were locked in. Drinks would have been about £2 cheaper the other side of the gate but i wasn't risking paying £38 to not get back inside to see the acts i wanted to see. Ive seen Chase and Status four times before and the most Ive paid is £27, so combined with the other acts i suppose it's a bargain, but next time if its more than £20 I'll give it a miss.

Me and my friends caught the last bit of Redlight & Dread MC's set, everyone else went straight to the bar when they finished, so whilst me and my friends had cider in our bags from earlier we searched out a spot to watch Annie Mac from. With lots of classic tunes and everyone singing as loud as they could; her remix of Adele's 'Rolling In The Deep' was a great choice. A slight technical hitch, the crowd chant 'Annie mac, Annie mac....' moments later everyone is jumping around again, me and my friends left in the middle of her last song to beat the porta loo queue.

Bladders emptied we head back to the main stage to get a decent spot for Chase and Status' set. We stand to the right of the stage 3 rows back, two of my friends go to stand on the side as its getting a bit rough where we are but me and my other friend stay put.

They open with 'No Problem' and the crowd go WILD, a mosh pit starts behind me and my friend so we move to the side, I look to my friend and she seems to be having a panic attack so we move a bit further out to enjoy the show and not to be punched in the back of the head, I'm too old for that; those days are over, i want to actually watch the band and not spend my time punching random people.
With the 'No More Idols' album being recently released I'm always wishing they'll play some classic tracks, and they didn't let me down. It's not a Chase and Status gig if they don't have 'Smash TV' ("you're in the jungle baby!!") playing and Mc Rage yelling into the audience "Where's the moshpit? Where's the moshpit? THERE'S THE MOSHPIT" exhilierating. With visuals of each feauting artist on screens whilst the songs were being played 'Is It Worth It' kicks off, everyone goes mental.
I could write for days on end about Chase and Status live, but the best thing is for you to go see them yourself, pick up the More Than A Lot and their latest the No More Idols album, see what you think. Think nothing can beat the album? Buy a ticket to one of their upcoming shows, until next time Chase and Status.

We The People fest was a good idea, but i hope if they come back next year they take note of a few things, great acts just about made up for what this festival lacked. Good choice of acts guys!

HECTOR and the SEACH FOR HAPPINESS (My holiday read)

"Hector is a successful young psychiatrist. He's very good at treating patients in real need of help. Hector decides to set off round the world to find out what makes people everywhere happy (and sad), and whether there is such thing as the secret of true happiness...."


Lesson number 1: Making comparisons can spoil your happiness

Lesson number 2: Happiness often comes when least expected

Lesson number 3: Many people see happiness only in their future

Lesson number 4: Many people think happiness comes from having more power or more money

Lesson number 5: Sometimes happiness is not knowing the whole story

Lesson number 6: Happiness is a long walk in beautiful, unfamiliar mountains

Lesson number 7: It's a mistake to think that happiness is the goal

Lesson number 8: Happiness is being with the people you love

Lesson number 8b: Unhappiness is being separated from the people you love

Lesson number 9: Happiness is knowing your family lacks for nothing

Lesson number 10: Happiness is doing a job you love

Lesson number 11: Happiness is having a home and a garden of your own

Lesson number 12: It's harder to be happy in a country run by bad people

Lesson number 13: Happiness is feeling useful to others]

Lesson number  14: Happiness is to be loved for exactly who you are]

Lesson number 15: Happiness comes when you feel truly alive

Lesson number 16: Happiness is knowing how to celebrate


Question: Is happiness simply a chemical reaction in the brain?

Lesson number 17: Happiness is caring about the happiness of those you love


Lesson number 18: Happiness could be the freedom to love more than one woman at the same time

Lesson number 19:  The sun and the sea make everybody happy

Lesson number 20: Happiness is a certain way of seeing things

Lesson number 21: Rivalry poisons happiness


Lesson number 22: Women care more than men about making others happy

Lesson number 23: Happiness means making sure that those around you are happy?

The day we travel home.

Friday 27th May

I passed out in bed at 1am after that rum, didn't realise how drunk i actually was. I wake up and look at the clock, it reads 04.00. Are you kidding? My head is banging and i notice Andy along with a pillow are missing from the bed. I pop to the bathroom and peek through the gap in the door where i notice Andy asleep on the sofa, stretched out and his legs hanging over the end of it. I figured i was probably snoring.

5am



6am




8am. I'm up. Moody and tired, shower time. Once I'm dressed i notice Andy looking very moodily at me with his lack of sleep. All evidence of the ash cloud on the news seems to have disappeared and we start to think that we imagined it. We check out by 10am, make our way to the airport but also needing to fill the car tank up en route. Diesel drips in, Andy says to Lynda 'thats weird, the nozzle doesn't fit?'...

PETROL, this car needs PETROL.....Lynda and Andy panic whilst i register all this so i can write it down later, meaning you can read it. Lynda goes in to pay and on her way out the automatic doors close on her. Disaster no. 2. Me and Andy laugh and notice the door the the station now doesn't shut properly after squashing Lynda, so on that note we make a sharp exit with our fingers crossed that we haven't fucked the engine as well as the petrol station door.

We Made it to the airport, the car too. We check in our bags, grab meal number 2 at Burger King (chicken royale to you Bk eaters) then head to gate c to board our plane. I have the window seat,  Andy in the middle leaving Lynda in the aisle seat again. I fell asleep and Andy being mean has photographic evidence of how attractive i look whilst sleeping. Our plane descends 2 hours and a half later, no ear bust ups or panic attacks this time, phew.
Lynda and Andy make a toilet stop whilst i head to the baggage reclaim point, mine is the 2nd one on the conveyor belt, winner winner chicken dinner. Andy and Lynda join me several minutes later and so do their bags. Bob picks us up in his Mercedes and we all head back to Wickwar where they live and where Andy has left his car. Once we arrive in the Muldoon household Lynda make us tuna, mayo and sweetcorn sandwiches which are flush down with a cuppa.We say our goodbye and head back to my house in Bristol where Andy drops me off as he needs to go to a shop which closes in half an hour (6pm). I run up my pathway and wispa starts barking.

Brilliant. No one is home and i am key less....i knock some more. Affirmative, NO ONE HOME and Wispa hasn't worked out how to open the stair gate yet. Luckily my sister Vicky lives four doors away and she has a spare key, luckily she is home and so I'm finally in my house! I'm greeted by a dribbling, hair shedding golden Labrador. Home. It's 9pm, i am now finally showered, Andy is at his friend Toms house and my Grandma is downstairs who is staying with us for a couple of days whilst she visit from Mauritius (My dads mum). I am sat on a brand new bed which was a lovely surprise from my parents, I'll sleep well tonight.

Day 6: Last full day. No sun, spot of rain =(

Thursday 26th May

9am is what the digital clock reads, i decide to lie there in bed a little longer. I notice there isn't much light creeping through the curtains and so i have a bad feeling its a horrid day out there. I roll out of bed and make my way into the bathroom to sort my face out (wash, brush teeth, mouthwash etc...you know the drill.) Quietly open the door and shut it softly behind me and i notice a note on the sofa that Lynda has left me to say she has popped out for a wee while to attend a meeting.
I sat outside with Lynda after she came back but 4 Matisyahu songs later we feel drops of rain, so we are now back inside. I've packed a few things away into my suitcase already for our flight home tomorrow which departs at 13.20, and we need to check out of the hotel by 10am so I'm getting this done now to save the stress of waking up early to do it.

10.30pm, wow I've got a lot to write, no idea where to start or if it'll be in the right order. We spoke to Elaine Mann and her husband Jerry. Elaine is okay, turns out Jerry seems a nice chap now he's managed to get a few words in. They are quite pleasant, it's been nice to meet them and we've learnt a few good holiday tips from them so i was too quick on judging them earlier, i will get better at my judgement of people, i don't want to be that person and so i refuse to be.
Anyway, the three of us are now back at the hotel after eating our last meal in the Arte Cafe Bar.

De EEEEE Licious

Me and Andy ordered the mixed grill which consisted of rack of lamb, beef fillet, pork fillet and veg with a cranberry gravy. Lynda had the rack of ribs with a salad and baked potato. Our plates were empty with just the bones remaining (the welsh waiter jokingly insisted that we licked the plates) He happily topped mine and Lynda's wine glasses throughout and i drank like a fish. All three of us ordered the same desserts -chocolate brownies with ice cream, empty plates again. The welsh chap asked us if the food was terrible, we laughed and agreed. We settled the bill, left a great tip and made our final journey back to the hotel. We packed a few more wee bits away (wee? its catching..)Lynda is now sat with a cup of tea, Andy a Bud and me, my final rum. I've packed away Mr Captain Morgan, we are all now in deep conversation, until next time!

PS. I miss being able to shuffle a deck of cards.

my mixed grill.

our choc brownies!

Bye beautiful wine.

Day 5; Sun Beautiful sun

Wednesday 25th May

I wake up at 10am, put the bikini on and join Lynda in the sun. Anyone want to go on holiday? You're paying.

I read some more of my book, spoke to Lynda about how much we were enjoying this holiday and then decided we would have some grapefruit for breakfast.
Yum.

Andy joins us for a bake in the sun, hours later we all dip into the pool where i swam like Nemo. I've not written much today! So update....we are now back in the hotel after a good few hours in the pool and in the sun. We ate at  'Le Bistrot Suisse' earlier, me and Lynda ordered the pork loin fillet with chips and veg and Andy ordered Fillet of Beef with chips and veg. Our plates were pretty empty, we settled the bill and left a nice tip.

Its been an amazing holiday, today has been the most hilarious. I'm currently laughing whilst writing this, I've spoken to Lynda about various things and we managed to work our way through a bottle and a half of white wine. I did not realise how much i was 'under the influence'. We came across the Scottish couple earlier too whilst me and Lynda sipped on our wine. We spoke to them about books, restaurants, holidays and photography. Me and Elaine exchanged business cards, she seems lovely in small doses. I know in time whether or not I'll regret the business card handover decision.

Rum.

Day 4 LAWNMOWER

Tuesday 24th may

LOUD NOISES. What the HELL is that noise? I look at the time, 9am and i peek through the blackout curtains where i see two men about the grounds near the pool. One of the men has a lawnmower and a loud one at that, the other has a leaf blower which he uses right outside our sliding doors to blow away any remaining grass off the patio. Not impressed but I'm up now so i join Lynda on the sofa and we wait until the men have finished until we go outside.

It's now past midday and I'm full on sweating out. It's Bob's birthday today so tonight we will toast our drinks to him whilst he's back in rainy England.

11.20pm. Me and Andy are watching 2 pints of lager and a packet of crisps. All 3 of us ate in a restaurant earlier called the 'arte cafe bar' which had been recommended to Lynda by one of her neighbours back home, and a bloody good recommendation it was. It had a small handful of staff and only sat about 25 people. The manager was a short Welsh chap who spoke fluent Spanish whilst maintaining his Welsh charm.
The Spanish waitress took our drink orders, 2 diet cokes and a fanta; standard. I look at the menu, top of the list reads 'New Zealand rack of lamb, sauteed potato and veg on a bed of mint gravy' I skim over the rest of the menu but all i have on my mind is the lamb, i wipe away my dribble and decide on that. Andy and Lynda both order the crab fish cakes. The food arrives

WOW, it's beautifully presented and as always i can't touch it until i have of course taken a photo.
Best meal yet.

Unfortunately Andy and Lynda are allergic to onions and there appears to be a ton of them within their crab cakes which they are forced to leave unfinished. The chef looks over and realises they've left a lot on their plates so asks if everything was okay, Lynda explains and he carries on cooking. I'm still eating do decide to let them both try my lamb, they agree with me on how tasty it is.......moments later the welsh chap sets down a dish in between Lynda and Andy saying "try this, no onions promise." Full rack of ribs, potato wedges and a side salad. We are all very surprised, i still am. I honestly can't believe they did that, not only was it very thoughtful but that dish is also 17 euros! You don't get that kind of service in the UK. We all decide we want this to be the restaurant we revisit on our last night so we reserve a table for Thursday 26th May at 8pm. We pay the bill, leave a nice tip and head back to the hotel once again.

See you on Thursday Arte Cafe.

My new zealand rack of lamb

Andy's onion crab cakes

got any more?

Day 3: Lemsip 'o clock

Monday "3rd May


I wake up around 10.30am and put on the kettle to sort myself out with a lemsip. Despite my short nature i am still producing snot like a machine. I put my bikini and board shorts on and join Lynda in the sun.

holiday essentials

It's now about 2pm, I have a bud in my right hand....I'll write later, this shit is just too good.



8.30pm, watching the news and there is a volcano that has erupted in Iceland which happened last year, but it might mean our flight on Friday gets cancelled and we'll be stuck here; what a shame. I have my rum & coke next to me whilst i listen to the disruption the volcano ash has caused and is going to cause.
We ate at a fish restaurant earlier for dinner called 'Merendero Cristina'. Beautiful; nothing so far has beaten the sound of waves crashing against rocks whilst eating dinner with the sun setting over the mountains in the distance.

Anyway, this rum needs to enter the tum x.

Day 2: Blackout curtains

Sunday 22nd may

I wake up and look at the digital clock radio sat beside the bed and it reads 2.21!!! It's evident the blackout curtains have certainly done their job and me and Andy have slept through the best past of the day. I tiptoe out of the room so i don't wake up Andy, head out onto the balcony where the sun is shining brightly and notice Lynda in the sun eating her breakfast. I ask her what the time is hoping it's not any later...turns out its 9.45am, phew that's a bit better. I wash my face, brush my teeth and whack on my bikini to join Lynda. Andy wakes up about forty minutes later and joins us on the sunbeds.

It's now 1.10pm, Andy is lying in the sun in the hope to get a tan, Lynda is clearing away our dishes after sorting a delicious lunch...and me? Well I'm obviously sat here writing this whilst listening to my friend Rosie Garrard singing some sweet tunes through my MP3 player. Right now though I'm going to put the pen down and put Andy and Lynda to shame on how quickly i tan, i give it twenty minutes seeing as I'm quite naturally tanned anyway.

Its official, i tan super fast; I'm a freak. I went into the pool for a bit with Andy and Lynda. We spoke to a Scottish couple called Elaine and Jerry. They spoke to us about the day before we arrived how there had been a great big thunderstorm, and how they had never seen anything like it that the hotels were out of power for quite a while. We obviously came at a good time. I've been lying in the sun a few hours now and I'm listening to my MP3 on shuffle mode. It has gone from Rise Against to Incured (the band i used to be part of) It made me reminisce like crazy. I miss drumming and we had some pretty sweet tracks, can i upload them on here? If i can I'll share the love with you.

Lynda rang the car hire company about 3pm due to the air con constantly blowing out hot air, which when your car has been sat in 30 degree heat for several hours is not pleasant to sit in. The car company decided to swap the cars over but we had to drive to the airport and they would refund us the full tank of petrol once we depart on Friday. Andy drove us back to the airport, he jokes to the man  "any Ferrari's?" no luck there. He hands the keys back for the ford focus and in return we get keys to an A Class Mercedes, hells yeah. Andy was so looking forward to driving this beauty. On our way back to the hotel we stop off at a restaurant for some dinner. We went to a Chinese restaurant called "Slow Boat" which the Scottish couple in the pool from earlier had recommended.

Be A Utiful.

Yeah, simply beautiful, we ordered 2 diet cokes and 1 fanta to drink, for for 'set menu a for 3 people 35euros)

Chicken and sweetcorn soup
Spare ribs
Chicken and mushroom curry
Beef in a black bean sauce
Egg fried rice.

I pretty much demolished everything i plated up. Man i love food, the gym will be needed greatly once I'm back home, but for now. Fuck it.

After the plates were cleared away the Chinese waitress hands us the bill and offers us some drinks on the house. I hesitate at first, look to my left at Lynda and notice both our faces light up when the waitress says Baileys.

Free Baileys? Nice tip for you.

We stroll back to the car. We are now back in the apartment, Lynda is finishing off her gin and tonic and heads to bed. Andy places his desperado's down on the glass plated table and i, well i finished my rum and coke many words ago. Night x.

First Day

 Saturday 21st May

I woke up and Lynda wasn't in the apartment, 10 minutes later she came to tell me we were moving rooms for the fourth floor down to the ground as she has a problem with her hips and its not going to do any favours climbing up and down those stairs daily. Me and Andy were happy enough to move and so we grabbed our things and headed down to room 4a. Perfect, so much better, we open the patio doors and we're about 6 steps from the pool!.

So we had brunch at a little cafe next to the hotel. I ordered a cheese omelet baguette and a diet coke. The three of us spoke about how lovely everyone in this area seemed to be so far. Once we finished off our food, we walked the handful of steps back to the hotel, we walked past the heated outdoor pool and set to unpack a few things within our apartment. That didn't take too long but by now we were all starting to get really thirsty so we made way to the nearby large supermarket to get essentials to last a week. My basket consisted of crisps, oreos and Captain Morgan's Rum.

my oreos werent discovered yet.

 We finished shopping...a good HOUR later, it was a big supermarket (that's my excuse). Once we had loaded the car up we made our way back to the hotel.  With all the roads looking alike and Lynda telling Andy the wrong turn offs we make our way back a good forty minutes later. Exhaustion settles in once back at the hotel so we all sit out in the sun to soak up on some rays. Andy went off into the pool whist me and Lynda started to put the shopping away. We leave our balcony door open and sit speaking about our plan for the night, we shower and get ready to start exploring.
After walking up and down the busy strip of restaurants we scope out the places that looks most popular and decided to settle in a restaurant called "Little India" (this choice was mutual, me because it smell nice, Andy because he fancied eating an Indian and Lynda because the decor attracted her.)

All 3 of us ordered a chicken korma and pilau rice (adventurous i know). It smelt delicious, i managed to finish mine whilst Andy and Lynda left a small amount on their plates. They cleared our plates away and they bring the bill over with 3 small glasses full of desert wine, wow it was quite strong. The Indian waiter notices our expressions and brings over the 'original' version of the drink which Andy finished but it wasn't something i could finish after demolishing all that food. We left a nice little tip for the guy and set off on our walk back. Our hotel is part of the Crown Resorts, which means there are several different blocks of hotels dotted around nearby. We walk past Club Marbella and look down the road we need to walk to get to Club Calahonda (our hotel) with it being dark now, and there being one streetlight we decide to look at Club Marbella to see if their mini bus is still running. Just as we look its pulling out and around the roundabout so we flag it down, the young chap who is just a food porter was kind enough to give us a lift. We sat in front of the TV, Lynda with a cup of black tea whilst me and Andy both sip on lemsips. 12.30am Bed time.

Holiday to Marbella with the Muldoons. Bad start.

 Friday 20th May 2011

Just received a phone call from Lynda, bad news...turns out Bob won't be joining us on this holiday due to work commitments.Next time Mr Muldoon.

The drive to the airport was exciting yet awkward. I was excited to go away on holiday due to the last one being in December....but also felt slightly awkward as we knew Bob was very much looking forward to this holiday and he would end up spending his birthday alone whilst we were away.
We all chuckled to ourselves anyway about the fact Andy had packed one odd grey sock (Lynda repacked his stuff into a different suitcase with a built in lock.) Bob dropped us at the drop off point at Bristol Airport, we said our goodbyes and headed inside to get ourselves checked in. We made our way to the departure lounge. First things first though our bags had to be checked; this if anything makes me nervous for no reason other than the fact i almost ALWAYS set off that stupid alarm and have to get searched. I walk through, wow i didn't set it off! Lynda walks through.....the alarm beeps like mad. Me and Andy wait for her to be searched, thoroughly.....Several minutes later they're still searching and i notice myself distracted by the Morgan's Spiced Rum in duty free. £13...nahhh Asda is cheaper I'm sure, and so i decide to return back and wait for Lynda before she discovers i am a rumoholic.
They're still checking her and discover a lump in her back pocket, her mobile. She blushes, collects her things from the conveyor belt and they scan her mobile. I do a few tweaks to my belt after discovering its loose from where i had taken it off to be scanned, once adjusted we head to spot some bargains in duty free.

Moments later we are in the sunglasses department where Andy bags himself a banging pair of bloc aviators at £25. Me and Lynda set off to find some food for the plane whilst Andy logs onto the Internet to sort a few matters back home.

Soho Coffee= bad mistake. They are ridiculously overpriced, so £3.90 for a sandwich and £1.90 for a bottle of water later we find Andy now at a charging point in one of the restaurants. Once sat down we see that our flight has been delayed, but only for 20 minutes.
20 minutes pass and we head through to gate 9 and the lady checks over our passports and boarding passes and filters us through the speedy boarding lane (which we didn't pay for) there were 6 others in this lane. We are the FIRST to board, before the parents with their children, see you later suckers. We walk on board the easyjet plane and sit right at the front. Andy in the window seat, me in the middle and Lynda to the left of me in the aisle seat.

I love taking off, hate landing.

The majority of the flight was spent saying how gutted we were that Bob couldn't make the trip with us. Andy steals my earphones from my bag and listens to the Arsecast on his mobile which is on flight mode, Lynda played her DS whilst i made a start on a book that has been on my shelf for months, so long that I've forgotten who let me borrow it "Hector and the Search for Happiness".

I'm shortly interrupted by a mother moaning that her daughter is going to wet herself if the guy in the toilet doesn't hurry up, he'd been in there seconds, literally. I try not to stare and get back to my book. I close the book...

"CAN YOU HURRY UP MY DAUGHTER IS GOING TO WET HERSELF"

What no please? Half an hour into the flight, she should have gone beforehand, what if this dude is doing a crap how embarrassing for him.

She knocks AGAIN, as if the first three loud knocks weren't enough? Its only been 5minutes by now, the cabin crew attendant tells her to wait and that he has only been in there a few minutes, polite enough. She continues to shout, me, Andy and Lynda can't believe how rude shes being at this point. The guy comes out

"take a look at my daughter shes wet herself thanks to you. It now stinks in here thanks very much."

It doesn't take much to be polite, the guy was in the toilet and you cant expect him to hold his poo so your daughter can do a wee. I would have stayed in there even longer and not flushed just for you grumpy bitch i hope your daughter wets herself again.

Now i don't mind flying, but I've noticed since suffering from a stroke during the decent a plane does in order to land my ears pop to the full extreme. Now don't get me wrong, I've been through shit and i only moan when completely necessary, but man this shit hurts. It especially hurts when you have a cold, and i had a mean cold with a stuffy nose, the snot was taking a vacation there. Its so painful that when i was having chemotherapy and needed to have bone marrow tests i can say that was less painful than my eardrums exploding within my head. As i explain to Andy and Lynda how much pain i was in and why i look like I'm on the verge of crying; i don't think they really understood...yet.

Andy is still recovering from the same cold, its a vicious circle its been 2 weeks and its still not gone away. Andy is now discovering how much pain i was in, he cannot feel his face, hes bright red and its not a good sight seeing him in pain feeling helpless. Meanwhile Lynda has rang the bell for the cabin crew to come and see if there is anything to ease the pain from mine and Andy's ears. The lady brings a plastic cup to Andy which has a tissue inside which has been soaked in Karvol. Andy sniffing away i hear the lady asking if we wanted water, she already handed Andy a full cup alongside the Kavol cup so i was confused and looked at her. I notice Lynda in the corner of my eye who appears to be paler than usual. Turns out she is suffering from her first panic attack in TEN YEARS, seeing her son in agony has obviously triggered it. So whilst I'm in pain, i man up and provide some lame attempt at sympathy for the pair of them.
We were the last off, we figured it would be better for Lynda to stop shaking and breathing into a sick bag before we stood up. First on, last off.
We thank all the crew for their kindness and head to collect our luggage. Four bags in and the next 3 are ours, score! We head downstairs where Lynda and Andy sign papers for the hire car, then we head to the car park to find it,after looking on the wrong level we get back in the lift and find our car parked in bay 84!
Andy is the designated driver for the holiday, its not about 00.20 and Spain have a serious lack of streetlights, or any light source to make their highway safe. We take the wrong exit and end up paying two toll fees. We go back on ourselves and eventually find the hotel.
One of the members of staff takes us from Club Marbella down to Club Calahonda which sits closer to the seafront. Four flights of stairs, my arm hurts but the apartment is sweet. The balcony looks out onto the sea and the moonlight reflecting off the water loos simply beautiful. We go to our rooms to sleep, unfortunately i didn't sleep too well so I'm up at 8am writing this all whilst its still fresh in my mind, its now Saturday the 21st May. Forecast for the week lows of 27'c and highs of 35'c

SWEET.

Holiday with the Muldoon family.

I'm off on holiday tomorrow with my boyfriend Andy and his parents Lynda and Bob. There is something deeply exciting about being in an airport for me; there is a real vibe and strange atmosphere about the place. I like to people watch and listen in on people’s conversations, and then I lose interest and almost always end up looking at sunglasses with Andy. Despite how great I look in Oakley sunglasses I have a terrible eyesight, and cannot see through the lenses. Due to not being able to wear contact lenses any more I am subject to not owning a pair of sexy Oakley shades. One day.

I'm not usually this crap at packing.

I spent a good 3-4 hours packing yesterday, I played some tunes through the laptop which ended in me parading about my room thinking I was famous. Rise Against was not a good choice to chill and pack to, so I moved onto Lost Prophets. Reminiscing and getting distracted by facebook, after about two and a half hours I decided to stop the music and attempt to actually pack. I finally packed but I am fearful as to when we arrive in Spain that I have not packed anything useful. I have definitely packed pants and my camera, essentials.

Right about now I should be in the shower after a sweaty run this morning with my sister as we train for the Race For Life event happening in July. I however am not, thus making this blog potentially a bad idea.

Andy is at work in London as I type, I need to get a few things together, do some Open University work which I will need a great deal of catching up on, get some euros and last minute things from Tesco.

Shower first.