A Review And An Amendment

Its New Year. 2012 has just begun. A time for looking back and reviewing. This list has taken a back seat in 2011 as I concentrated on the most important thing, moving to Hull. Which wasn't on the list! I've lacked time for some things, and I definitely lacked money. The move itself cost a lot, and there wasn't money spare for the holidays and some of the adventures I wanted to do. The last blog post is from August 2011, I moved in September which says it all really!

With 15 months to go, a review of the list shows that I won't be able to complete everything. Just two examples, I (obviously) dropped Brownies in Tunbridge Wells, and needing some time off from church obligations, I haven't joined a pack here. So qualifying as a Guider isn't going to happen. Also the couple I planned to visit in Texas are no longer both there, so that won't happen.

Therefore, I am changing item number 101 which says "Prepare the next list...." to "Donate £5 to charity for each incomplete task".

When I was researching lists to see what were popular or classic tasks, a lot of people finished with renewing the list. I must admit, it was never my intention to try something on this scale again! I didn't know what sort of 101 I would do, but it was always going to be a smaller scale!

Many people started their lists more realistically than me, knowing in advance they might not be able to do everything. And so they include the "donate £X to charity for each incomplete task". So I am doing this, to encourage me to keep going and try and do as much as possible, but hopefully take the pressure off and stop me worrying that some things just can't happen.

So, here is a re-commitment that I want to keep going with the list. There loads here I still want to do and I've got some exciting stuff planned already for January! We've done a task just this morning (post to follow later, the photos need editing) and another task is booked for later in the month. I'll try and do better with my reporting!

Happy New Year :) xx

Weigh 10 and a half stone and see what happens next...

Item 57 was very deliberately worded. I wanted to lose weight, but after trying for a decade or so, I knew it was tricky, and keeping the weight off, even trickier.

I have several motivations for losing weight. At 5ft 6 and 11 and a half stone (thats 161 pounds for the americans) I was not exactly huge, but I am right on the line of overweight/obese for BMI, and I could stand with losing a few pounds.

It hadn't escaped my notice that I was carrying more spare fat than nearly every other person at the climbing wall. And I figured slimming down might be easier than getting stronger, and it might improve my climbing.

I also need to keep my weight down for health reasons. My mum died of cancer at only 53, and it runs in females down that side of the family, so I need to eat right and stay in shape to look after myself.

I've been trying to lose the weight since this project started back in July 10. But giving up eating my favourite foods is hard. And turning down invites for yummy meals at friends, or out for dinner in town is nearly impossible. I tried upping my activity levels but I was already so busy it was hard to fit much else in.

In May 11, a few things fell into place to make a proper attempt possible. Firstly I realised I was going to turn 30 in less than a year, and that it was never going to get easier to shift. Secondly, I planned to move to Hull which meant giving up the youth groups I help out at, which free'd up a few evenings a week. And then R&S invited me to Crossfit.

Crossfit is sport practised by a small but growing group of nutters who do warm ups that are work outs for most normal people. We then lift weights, before attempting to kill ourselves perfoming the "Work Out of the Day" or WOD.

I have never worked out with such intensity, or had such encouragement from my work out buddies. The WODs are timed. I am usually last, but as soon as the others have finished (and got their breath back!) they are shouting encouragement and helping me count down the pull ups or lifts I have left to do. It makes all the difference.

Plus, in savig up to move, I can't afford to eat out as much :)

It took four months to lose a stone (14lbs) which is pretty slow I think. But then I pretty much did that through exercise. I still ate a huge amount of chocolate, and had the odd drink, and quite a lot of treats.

Its been exciting to drop a dress size, and you can nearly see definition of muscles in my arms, and even more surprisingly, my thighs.

I thought I'd find this so hard I'd hit 10 and a half stone, celebrate with a curry and probably put most of it back on.

But you know what, I don't want a curry tonight. I'm out climbing with my mates tomorrow, and I need to be awake and alert and energetic. A curry will make me tired, lethargic and slow. So tonight will be something reasonably healthy and maybe a drink of something cold and yummy.

I hope to lose another inch or so off my tummy. Annoyingly I am now between a size 12 and 14, which not terribly helpful for clothes shopping! So I'd like to be a 12 consistently. I'd like to be able to run a 5k in under 30 minutes. I'd like to be able to climb any grade 5 climb or V2 boulder route without too much hassle. I'm nearly there, but not quite, and the weight won't be going back on this time.

I didn't actually think when I wrote the list I'd be able to achieve this goal. I knew I needed to try, but it was added out of hope rather than expectation, and I think this is now my proudest achievement to date.

Now, I think it must time to go and get some chocolate :)

Going Camping With Dan - The Return To Font

Item 70: Go Camping With Dan

When we went to Font in July 2010 we spent a bit of money on gear, and thought we'd better go on another trip to get value for money :)

For one reason or another, Font 2011 was the first time we would have a chance to use the tent.

We stayed at Camping Les Pres at Grez sur Loing, in the usual spot. It was a nice enough camp site. Showers were warm and pretty clean considering how basic it was. I was not so impressed with the amount of spiders and bugs and webs in the ladies though...

Saturday morning we went to Canche aux Merciers, which is a nice low crag to get us started. A lot of us on the trip only top rope or boulder indoors and certainly I was a little nervy with no safety net at all. We did a yellow circuit, following the arrows around the problems, which I am told is an English grade 3 or 4, but they all felt harder than that! We also learnt the lesson of checking the descent from the rock, as sometimes getting down was trickier than climbing up!

In the afternoon we moved to La Roche aux Sabots, another low(ish) crag with yellow circuit but also harder problems for those that wanted them.

I must admit I sulked a little here. I wasn't feeling well, and wasn't mentally in the right place to push myself. The rock here was quite polished in places and very slippy. Most things I tried, I failed. Including a particular problem I'd spent ages overcoming a year ago. I thought I'd leap up it this year and demonstrate my improvement but actually I couldn't do it. I ended up taking a few photos of others, and trying to enjoy being outdoors in a beautiful forest on a sunny day.

Sunday morning we headed to Elephant, and to a very high climb my brother wanted to complete after dropping from 20 feet or so from it last year. I made the decision to support him that morning, and to focus on climbing mostly in the afternoon. An easy choice to make since Elephant is mostly quite high, and I am not confident far off the ground without a rope.

Several people made the climb, but my brother didn't. I think he could remember last years fall too clearly, and although I'm really sad for him, I'd rather he came home with all his bones intact. Elephant pushes the boundaries for me between bouldering and soloing, and I was happy enough we all made it back to the minibus with no broken bones.

In the afternoon I was raring to go, and we went to Dame Jouanne with the advice to not look for circuits, but just to climb anything that looked interesting. I find this really hard. I can't pick my own problems easily. Left to my own devices I'd end up climbing routes that could be done in trainers, or problems so hard I wouldn't succeed and would be frustrated. This crag was also quite high, and after some fruitless time searching for parts of circuits, I went for a scramble with a friend instead. We figured we'd go round the bottom of the rocks looking up at the tall rock in the middle, and come out the other side. Half way round we found steps built into the ground and boulders, so we headed up them and at the top found the rocks flattened out to a big enough area to stop and admire an astounding view, before re-joining our friends.

That evening I was a bit deflated. I'd done so little climbing, and panicked at anything higher than about 10 feet. I didn't feel I had challenged myself, or achieved much at all. At dinner that evening I requested a lower crag the next day, with an obvious circuit for me to follow.

And wow did I get what I wanted! We ended up at a quiet little crag called Beauvais Guinguette with a nice yellow circuit with 50 problems. We trotted off to see how many we could get done before lunch. There was a nice variation, nothing was too high. Some required brute strength, others more technical ability. I only bottled one problem for being too high, and one or two I chose to skip after an attempt so I could attack the next problem, rather than waste 15 minutes of energy on one thing.

By lunch time most of us had hit problem number 25. Those who started at the front of the group, got to about 35 as they hadn't had to wait around at all. And two of our guys finished the lot. I think most people considered it the best crag, and I certainly feel I got some good climbing done after a disappointing Sunday.

I will definitely be back to Font, its such a beautiful area and I have only scratched the surface of what it has to offer. I'm going to to try and do some more outdoor bouldering before next year, to get more confidence in my ability, and possibly consider learning how to fall off!

Before I went, @CrossfitTonbuk tweeted to his followers that I was in Font to see if Crossfit (a particular type of training which focuses on strength and balance) had helped my climbing. I spent a lot of the weekend thinking about this, and on that final circuit realised that at no point in the weekend did I give up because I lacked the strength. That never let me down and thats probably a first for me. Crossfit has definitely helped my climbing.

My nerve and my confidence let me down and that is all in my head. I feel I've hit a bit of a plateau in my climbing. I'm getting pretty good, I'm more flexible than I was and I'm stronger than I was. I'm getting more stamina. The wall I've hit, is mental. I need to believe I can be better, that I can make that move, that my foot won't slip, that my arms won't suddenly give up and that's where my next improvement is going to have to come from.

Oh yes, this 101 item was in the "love and romance" section. I messed that up. Nothing romantic about camping at all, especially when you're there to climb! Unless you count the romance of the shared passion for climbing :)

A Picnic on Ashdown Forest

Ok, so the photo is not of us eating a picnic, but I think its a great photo Dan took so I'm using this one :)

I gave myself an area on the list called "Romance". Some on this list are proving tricky to complete and will need more time. Why on earth I thought it was a good idea to romantically surprise Dan I don't know. I know what I'd like, but I'm finding it hard to get inside his head.

Anyway, I live quite close to a beautiful forest and hardly ever go there for a walk or picnic, so I chucked it on the list to make sure I made the effort at some point.

After a unseasonably sunny Easter, the weather round here deteriorated, so after a few weeks was rain when the sun came out we nipped out to the forest and braved the winds for a mini adventure.

Ashdown Forest is the location A A Milne used in her childrens books Winnie The Pooh. I read them growing up and I must admit, it still holds some kind of magic for me. We drove out and stopped at one of two car parks I know on the forest. We walked off to the quarry where we sat out the wind to have lunch and then climbed a tree I remembered as a kid to see if I could get higher now. I could, but find if I do this kind of thing in trainers I am very wary that I lack the grip of my climbing shoes and found it scarier than I should!

We took our stuff back to the car and then found in the car park a post with some leaflets describing walks. It was SUCH a good leaflet. From the car park there were two walks, we picked the longer and got given the description as we went. No tricky maps to follow, but directions using the locations that were in the stories. So we set off first to the Heffleump Trap. They helpfully pictured the first stop so you could identify when you arrived. Then we headed off back to the quarry we'd had lunch in, which was actually Roo's Sandy Pit via the A A Milne memorial which has fantastic views. Then the route took us to The North Pole and up the hill past Eeyores Gloomy Place.

Then I suggested a diversion. We were at the track to take us back to the car, but hadn't really been walking long, plus it was hot. And I was certain the second of the car parks I knew was straight ahead and always, ALWAYS has an ice cream van.

Dan being a trusting sort of boyfriend let me lead him off route into the forest and gently teased me as trudged further and further from the junction with no ice cream van in sight....

My hunch was correct, but on foot it took us longer to get there than expected. Luckily the ice cream van was there, but the exposed position and strong winds meant I was freezing within minutes so we headed off back to the car, returning the leaflet for others as suggested.

It was a perfect Saturday mini adventure. The discovery of these fab walks taking you past points mentioned in the books is genius, and I may have to go back and do some more!! I need to see Winnie The Pooh and Tiggers house I think :)

A week without TV or Internet

I'm blogging this several months after my week without tv or internet, which wasn't my intention (I'm lazy and forgetful - oops!) but at least will give a perspective on what happened next.

The week off was unbelievably hard. I felt like I was missing on facebook, that things might have happened and I wouldn't know I felt very out of the loop. I found myself reaching for my mobile to check for updates at any spare moment. I had NO attention span, and was unable to to "be". It was actually quite alarming.

I found I had to work more at work. Everytime a thought popped into my head about a film I wanted to watch, or what the opening hours for such and such was, I had to put it out my head and keep working. It made me feel quite ashamed to see how easily I will leap on the net for five minutes even though I'm in the middle of a task.

Almost straight away I realised I hadn't needed to give up TV at all. I didn't really miss it, there are very few regular shows I watch. Instead, I watch whole series when it suits me on my BT Vision. However, two or three evenings I was at home, eating dinner in silence in front of a blank TV thinking, why I am putting myself through this? Thirty minutes of television to me company while I eat is not a habit that needs breaking!

I found my flat was tidier. I didn't end up surfing for rubbish on the net, so I was bored enough to wander the flat, find things to do and go to bed at a reasonable time. I actually read my bible once or twice (see the task to read the Bible all the way through, I haven't got very far yet...).

Then there was an earthquake in Japan. I couldn't check the news. I couldn't see what people were saying facebook. I didn't know how many were hurt or what had happened apart from a discussion with work colleagues. I had my one sort of "cheat" where a work colleague had an article from the bbc website up and called me over so I could just "happen" to read over her shoulder for a second.

And then the week was over and I hit facebook with a vegence and decided to sign up to Twitter which was an odd response! But I have discovered Twitter is very different to facebook and I have been so inspired by some of the people I follow, I wish I'd done it earlier.

And now? The flat is a mess. I haven't read the bible for weeks. I still check facebook and twitter almost immediately on waking (mostly to stop myself from going to straight back to sleep). I am better at not spending whole evenings surfing for random rubbish, but this might be because I have not really had an evening in for weeks. So I just come home and go straight to bed!

Writing this has reminded me that I was a bit calmer and had a better attention span when I went cold turkey. So I think I may try to cut back a bit. It would be good to try and restrict my use to just lunch times at work, so my little flat gets the benefit of more free time at home!

I'm very glad I did it.

The Sound Of Music

The other film on the top 20 list I have seen before is The Sound Of Music. My mum loved the film, and I used to watch it with her when I was younger.

I can't say I was looking forward to re-watching it. I remember it as being a bit boring, with a few good songs. And BT Vision told me it was 3 hours long...

So while the UK is voting a referendum on whether to move from a First Past The Post system to Alternative Vote, I am watching The Sound Of Music.

From the opening credits, I loved the film again. I can identify so much with Maria. When she is running over the hills, singing because her heart is full with happiness. That is, EXACTLY, what how I feel in the alps. You look to those majestic mountains and feel like your heart might burst. I also appreciate her ditziness!

I love the first part of the film, where she teaches them to sing, and they rebel and climb trees and swim in lakes. As a child it was my favourite bit. I was then amused to find that as the film heads to more adult themes such as love, my interest wandered and I updated this blog a bit, and dated some photographs. It was my intention to sit and really absorb every film, but I have just watched this one too many times.

I know why its in the classic film list, it tells a timeless story. And now, the Captain is singing Eidelwiess to the Austrians before he does a runner, and I'm only understanding now just how poignant that is.

I'm not sure quite when I'll get the desire to watch this film again, but I'm sure I will. And I think I'd better pretend the tear in my eye is because this was one of mums favourite films, and is nothing to do with sad ending!

Alien...

On my list of top 20 films is Alien. The first, and original. Its one of the few films on the top 20 list I have seen before, but a long time ago and I was looking forward to re-watching it.

It was made in 1979, which seems hardly believable, the film has hardly aged at all. Its not the space scenes, the alien bursting from the mans chest or the set that dates it, its the fact they are all smoking on their spacecraft which is heading home! It seems very odd now that we can't smoke on planes, or indeed anywhere public.

It had been so long since I had watched it, I'd forgotten a lot of it. I won't spoil it by saying what I had forgotten! But it was like I was watching for the first time. You can see why its considered a classic, it paved the way for all horror and suspense films that followed.

I now want to watch the rest of the trilogy!!

Duck!

I haven't blogged about all 12 recipes, but April (month 10 of the year of new recipes) is quite an exciting one, and more importantly Dan was around to take photos :)

I love duck, but have never cooked it before. It turned out to be as tricky as I expected. We bought duck breasts (about twice as expensive as chicken for reference) and we started pan frying them, which made the skin lovely and cripsy, and then the recipe said to transfer them to a roasting dish in a pre heated oven. They then cooked much slower than the recipe stated, and I kept checking them. It was hard to know when they done, as you can eat duck a bit rare, but these stayed bloody for ages and then suddenly cooked in 3 minutes!

I have to say, that with the wild rice and a side of chutney they were absolutely lovely. A bit pricy to eat regularly, but good as a treat I think. I shall look out some more duck recipes I think...

Only two more months to on my year of recipes. I want to cook lamb and fish cakes. I can't wait!

5k in under 40 minutes

When I set this task, I didn't really give a lot of thought to the time I wanted to run 5k in. I've done the distance a few times, and struggled to run the whole lot. The last time I can remember, I did a race for life in about 50 minutes, and had to walk the last 0.5k which was irritating.

After a few weeks of runs in the evening, I dragged Dan along to Parkrun with me. Parkrun is an interesting event, held at parks round England at 9.00am every Saturday morning with volunteers manning the route and giving you a time.

We went to the one in Hull (the nearest to where I live is an hour drive away and I'm not that committed!). I was really nervous and didn't know the route. I'd done 5k the week before one evening after work, just to check I could. I'd done it is 32 minutes and felt great, and wondered if I should be aiming for under 30 minute time.

For whatever reason, Parkrun was hard. Sometimes I find a rhythm when I run, sometimes I don't. Sometimes, it feels like I am running through treacle, and sometimes I find a natural pace. This day I couldn't get my act together. I tried to set pace with some people at the back, but got a bit overconfident and tried to keep up with runners too speedy for me. So I had to slow to a walk, so then when I began running again, I would sprint off determined to get a good time after all the course was flat so I knew I should be able to do it! Then minutes later, I'd be panting and out of breath and needing a walk.

I finished the course in an uninspiring 34 and a half minutes. For the record, Dan didn't stop and did it in 27 minutes.

So I passed the task, but I feel like I don't deserve to. I felt like I was pushing myself all the way round, and in a way I was, as every step I ran was a ridiculous battle. But in a way I can't have been pushing to limit, as I recovered my breath very quickly once I came to a stop.

So to this end I have just signed myself to do race for life, on home turf, to see if I can get a better time, plus cancer is still not cured. Given my genes, my preference is that this happens sooner rather than later...

Heres a link, in case you fancy sponsoring:
http://www.raceforlifesponsorme.org/stephstevens0503

Its a stepping stone on the way to a 10k!

Exporting Presents

Item 76 is also a present related one.

Two good friends emigrated to USA in the autumn of 2010, and I wanted to make sure they both got birthday presents (Nov/Dec) and that Christmas presents arrived in time.

Again, and mostly thanks to the power of the internet, I did achieve this :)

Birthday Present Quest 2010

Item 73 is a simple one, to buy my friend M a birthday present. This shouldn't have needed to be included on my Day Zero Project list, which is essentially a bucket list of experiences you want to do before you die. Or at least in the next 3 years.

However, despite M being one of my closet, nicest and most generous friends, I have spectacularly failed to buy him a birthday present for the last 3 years!

Each year I speak to his wife, find out what he wants, assure her I will purchase the present, and then I don't. I don't know why, I just have a blank spot around his birthday!

So, clearly it was time to rectify this. I was away visiting Dans family when his birthday fell, so I made Dan detour into Exeter on the day before his birthday to pick up the present I promised him a year ago. It was with much pride that we met on my return and I had a present to hand over. He seemed very pleased and his wife has reported that the present has been played with.

I am relieved to finally broken the bad habit. I don't know what will happen next year, lots of friends keep having children and this squeezes my present budget!

Snowboarding A Black Run!

Item 55 was to snowboard a black run.

You'll notice that I didn't specify how well I had to do it :) You might think that to count it, I needed to do it well, but personally I think it took so much guts that my attempts this winter counted!

My first ever black run was at Murren. Dan and I had the choice to turn down a red route or a black route. We noticed the black route was pretty short and thought we'd give it a go. The first bit was simply quite steep and so I simply took it slowly on my heel edge. Then we had to stop to see where the route went. It was off to the left, and it was narrower than my board... I was a little nervous so Dan went first to show me how to do it. And promptly fell over. I figured I could only do better and followed him down. It quickly widened to the most mogully slope ever, clearly a piste basher had never been near it. I edged over bumps, trees and bushes and was quite relieved to reach the red run and civilisation.

The photo above is taken at Birg on the last day where we had another go at an equally short black. It was fab! This time I attempted to do better than just slipping down on my heel edge so I bravely did a bit of falling leaf, until half way down, the slope flattened out and I quickly put two linked turns in before the route went over the edge of cliff and I had to get back under control. I got to the bottom feeling very proud of myself that I turned on a black slope. Wohooooo!

Visiting The Elderly

I won't say much about this one, as the subject probably doesn't want to be written about on the internet.

But I did visit my great aunt every month for six months. And the reason I did this in the first six months is that I'm hoping to keep it up as a habit. She always seems happy to see me and it's not a huge amount of effort, although finding the time is tricky!

Psycho!

I have never (to my knowledge) watched a black and white film, so this is on the list as I feel that its something cultural I should have done by now!

I had to choose carefully as I wanted to watch a "classic" but it couldn't be on top 20 list as I want to avoid overlaps where possible.

I picked Psycho because it is supposed the first and original horror film.

I watched it with my brother last night and we both really enjoyed. We both knew the iconic shower scene, but neither of us had figured there was a whole plot around it! For anyone who has not watched it, I won't give the plot away but go and watch it!

Bearing in mind the film was released in 1960, this film would have been shocking at the time. In this day and age the violence is nothing. I can only imagine it has its 15 rating for the pyschological angle, as you see hardly no blood, and no nudity to speak of. But 50 years ago, women were never in their underwear on screen, and according to wikipedia, this was one of the first films to show a toilet flushing! And some people objected to this!

Personally I found the small cast refreshing. I lose track of the characters in blockbusers these days, and I felt I was following this quite well. I loved the twists and turns of the plot and I'm so pleased this was on the list. Its also made me look forward to watching some more of the classic films on my top 20 list.

Rocking out with Ash

In November we ticked item 68 "Go to a rock gig with Dan" off the list.

It was on the list because I love live music. Its quite a big part of my life, and I usually have a gig lined up to go to, sometimes months away, but I like to know I have something to look forward to. Theres something about hearing the crashing guitars, and thumping bass right in front of you that is so energising... and I needed to know Dan gets this. Mostly because I'm hoping he wont think its a waste of money, I need these gigs in my life!

So we headed up to Shepherds Bush for Ash. We went to dinner first at a fab Thai restaurant and ate a really spicy curry, hence the need for the gigantic ice cream Dan is holding above! Stupidly we got one each and I wasn't able to finish mine, which is totally unheard of! I really like ice cream! But I was mindful I was about to go and jump and up and down for an hour or two!

Ash were excellent. I've seen them several times before, and they have always been great. They played a mix of the A-Z songs and old favourites. The crowd went mental for "Kung-Fu" I zoned out to my own little world for "Girl From Mars" but actually the best song was "Arcadia" which they opened with.

Apart from both feeling like we had eaten too much ice cream, it was the best night, I was so so happy and didn't want to end, and I think that answers my question about whether or not Dan gets it :)

Arcadia

Light up, spark the detonator

Now I'm homeward bound, way to see you later

If you make that step you're the instigator

Got my mind made up, I'll be your navigator

If you want me to travel over moonlit miles

For a precious smile

Following my lonely heart

Call on me, take me...

Far over the seas

I return in my dreams

Sailing home under the stars

To be safe in your arms

Ever near, travel through time

Ever close in my mind

Say you will truly be mine

Say you'll always be mine

We are a winning combination

We're two stars aligned in a constellation

When I get too low you're my inspiration

Never let me down, you're a revelation

One that comes along once in a lifetime

Oh I realise

You give me love free and wild

Oh my child, lead me...

Far over the seas

I return in my dreams

Sailing home under the stars

To be safe in your arms

Ever near, travel through time

Ever close in my mind

Say you will truly be mine

Say you'll always be mine

Our empire stretches from the deserts

To the ice fields

Love and courage can take us anywhere

We dare to go

Far over the seas

I return in my dreams

Sailing home under the stars

To be safe in your arms

Ever near, travel through time

Ever close in my mind

Say you will truly be mine

Say you'll always be mine

Item No 1

In one sense this is a cheating task. Trying to come up 101 things that are fun/interesting/worthwhile/exciting is quite tricky. And expensive. I had already received for my birthday in early 2010 before The Day Zero Project was conceived a voucher from my dad to go rally driving. I'd always fancied a track day of some sort, and so I figured I could stick this on the list, even though I was doing it anyway!

It turned out to be slightly more of a challenge than I anticipated. In August I had a small accident, and my little Puma was out of action for nearly two months, I'd only had it back a few days before the rally driving, and I was a little nervous of driving and scared of another crash. Not only did I drive the 2 and a half hours to Oxfordshire but I was then to throw myself round a deliberateley muddy course where the aim was to be out of control! I was scared!

You started with a safety briefing, which I don't remember much of, except being told that you mustnt worry about the car as its not yours and to "drive it like you stole it". I decided then to sign up to the insurance they offered. Apparently they dont have many proper crashes, but I could all too easily imagine myself driving into a tree, despite Dans encouraging pep talks.

They drove us up to a building by the track, which was a mile long and twisted and turned over a couple of acres. A tractor went round watering the track to make it easy to slide at slow speeds. Somehow I was first in my group of 4 and straight into the Puma! I can't tell you if its the same as driving my Puma on the road, as Rally driving is just so different. You never got out of 3rd gear as they wanted you to concentrate on the steering. And your aim is to slide the car round corners which I would never dream of doing in my precious car. For my first 15 minute go I was rubbish. The instructor must have wondered what I was doing there. I didn't want to go fast, I couldnt seem to turn properly into corners. I didn't get the hang of handbrake turns as I've never been a boy racer so never tried before! I got out the car thinking the time had gone slowly and worried I wasting an expensive day out.

In the wait til my next go I gave myself a bit of a talking to. I'd asked for this birthday present, and then dragged Dan all the way to Oxfordshire, just so he could photograph me, when he'd already driven 5 hours to see me. And he didn't even get a go! I owed to myself, Dan and Dad to make sure I gave it a proper try.

The second 15 minutes went a lot better. Something clicked in my brain and I was lot better at drifting round the corners. I still turned the steering wheel too much on the handbrake turns, forgetting that the point was that I was sliding and not needing to turn the wheel. This session went far too quickly and I wanted to keep going and I was immediately itching to get back behind the wheel.

The third outing was fantastic. I nailed the handbrake turns to the delight of my instructor (who needn't have sounded quite so surprised I got it), and as I threw the car round the corners, sliding sideways at every opportunity I may even have let out a whoop or two of joy! As we went round for the last lap, my instructor asked if I was proud of myself, as I should be. And I finished with a big grin, knowing that there they probably wasn't a career in rally driving awaiting me but I'd made a massive improvement from the start of the day.

I also got taken out for a spin with a rally driver who was a lot faster than me! I wouldn't say it was scary as such, just very impressive now I knew how difficult it was to do!

In all I definitely enjoyed the day. I'd been wanting to do something like this and I feel as though I achieved something even though I wouldn't say I was a better driver because of it. It was a fantastic day out - thanks Dad!

Apocalypse Now!

On Saturday I watched another of the top 20 films (I can't remember what number this comes in on!) the redux version of Apocalypse Now.

Well. It's pretty long! It was also kinda boring... There were one or two fantastic scenes. It was very well filmed.

I can't really think of much more to say about it. I don't think I'll watch it again! But I am pleased to have watched it, as it explains a lot of references from other films!

I am never quite sure what to make of war films, they make me very sad for the senseless waste of life, and it also makes me sad about the ongoing wars in the world, and that the waste isn't finished yet.

I do feel like I watched a cinematic masterpiece. But it didn't move me (unless confusion at the ending counts) and I didn't learn anything and I didn't love any of the characters...

Becoming A Surf Chick!

Item 56: To be able to stand up on a surfboard

Two weekends ago I headed to Newquay with a friend and a company called Big Friday who whisk you from London to Cornwall for a weekend of surfing. Its the second time I've done it, I wasn't very good the first time, but I did really enjoy it.

My aim for the weekend was to be able to stand up, and I made sure the instructors were aware of this!! During the first lesson on the Saturday, I didn't really manage it. You are taught a 4 step movement which is supposed to make it dead easy to stand up.

Step One - Lying the board facing straight ahead (not as easy it sounds that one!) see the waves coming and paddle paddle paddle like crazy!
Step Two - From legs out straight bring your knees in, with your hands on the rails (side) of the board. I managed this most of the time if I'd caught the wave properly.
Step Three - Keping your hands where they are, bring the lead foot forward so you are kneeling on only one knee.
Step Four - Put your kneeling foot on the board, and then raise up into a crouch, twisting so your body is facing along the beach, but your head looks forward to the beach and thats where are you arms go too.

At least, that was my understanding of it :)

I did manage to stand several times, in fact thinking about it, Saturdays instructor saw me do it as he thought it hilarious that I got up into a crouch/standing position and yelled "that counts! I've done it!" and promptly fell off!

I also stood up several times on the Sunday (always immediately coming off) and I was spotted by others in the group. Unfortunately there is no photo. Although if you were in the water and moving it wasn't that cold. We soon discovered if you stopped to take photos it becomes cold pretty damn quick!

I think I will be back again for another try, but I am pleased with achievement. I am relieved I didn't get bitten by the surf bug, as I have neither the time or cash to get involved in another hobby. There were some on the trip who had spent most weekends of the summer in Newquay and had all their own equipment. I don't think I'll be doing that, but I would like to take Dan along. Its all part of my love of Cornwall, being there and playing in the sea that I usually stand and look at gives another perspective to my favourite place.

Compassion

Item 30: Find someone who inspires me and follow them on facebook

I didn't really know what I was aiming for when I thought up this challenge. It was based on several thoughts along the lines of thinking that I check facebook (several) times daily. I pick up on friends good and bad moods. Sometimes I learn interesting things from news items people to their walls. Sometimes I am overwhelmed by the pain and suffering my friends are going through. I was looking for someone who cold provide me with a "Thought For The Day" type thing, to provide perhaps some spiritual input into what can otherwise be a varied media.

I found what I was looking for accidentally.

I sponsor a child in El Salvador (I put on facebook recently he's from Guatemala but I was wrong - oops!) called Kevin. I find it hilarious that he has the least southern american name you could think of! The company I do this through is called Compassion. I recently found them on facebook, "liked" them and moved on without really noticing what I'd done.

Compassion are the single most inspiring thing I have come across on facebook. They are very active and post at least daily on topics like "funny things sponsor children write in their letters" or counting down to the trip some sponsors did recently to meet their children, and then links to the amazing blogs written of the visits.

I am reminded daily of Kevin, and I have started writing to him again (Item 23) and praying for him more often. I am also reminded constantly of the fact that I have so much in this world, and there are children out there who have so little. I have no idea how to change the imbalance. I know I can't change the world. But maybe I can have some impact on one little boys life.

In fact, I've been so inspired, I'm going to sponsor a second child. It costs very little (only £21 a month) but it gives them education both in terms of schooling and health and nutritional supplement if they need it as well as a centre for activities.

I didn't even realise I'd found my small daily dose of spirituality, as these things often do it came along as a surprise.

Cheesecake Success

I am not very good at desserts. I usually only see the final item sitting on my plate so I don't know what it should like while I'm making it, or before it goes in the oven/sets so I don't have much confidence.

So one thing on my list was to make a cheesecake. I love cheesecake :) And I would like to have a dessert I can make and be sure that I can take it to peoples houses and it tastes ok.

This Friday was my turn to host the Girls Night so in a fit of organisation I kept Thursday night free for cheesecake making, safe in the knowledge that should disaster strike I could purchase a dessert on Friday after work.

My first problem was not reading the recipe correctly. For some reason I had it in my head you use cottage cheese in cheesecake. The one ingredient I couldn't find in Tesco was cottage cheese. So laden with bags I headed for M&S which did have it.

I made my biscuit base and went to make the mix. Which of course began "mix the ingredients with the cream cheese....." A quick google convinced me cottage cheese was not an alternative substitute so I headed back for Tesco which did of have cream cheese after all!

If I continue on my dessert making quest, I shall need to invest in some gadgets as my arm nearly fell off hand whisking the mix.

It all looked good coming out the oven and I was desperate to try some but managed to leave it intact before serving it to the girls. It could be that they were just being polite but everyone seemed to like it. I was pleasantly surprised. It tasted like actual cheesecake!

I asked the girls if they thought this counted as "having learnt to make cheesecake" and they said it did. I may well make it again soon to "defluke" it. And I think my dad and brother might like to eat it!

Right, now I'm off to google to see what I can do with my two pots of cottage cheese...