October Breast Cancer Awarenesss month - My book

It's October and Breast Cancer Awareness month.  I will be blogging about lots of events coming up in this month.

I have self published my first book on Amazon Kindle called Odd Socks.  It is out there!  I am getting some good feedback and I am very pleased.  I hope people in enjoy it.  It is a chick flick about a divorced woman called Davina with low self esteem that starts to realise who she is.  You see her grow stronger throughout the entire book and get her life back together after her she throws out her cheating husband Mitch.  If you do read it I hope you enjoy it.  I enjoyed writing it.  All of my writing started after my diagnosis.  It was like a tap I could not stop!

The first Breakthrough event is 18th October - The Great Pink bake off!  So get baking and invite your friends and family over!

Breakthrough Breast Cancer

Breakthrough Breast Cancer has teamed up with Penguin and WHSmith to launch the new and exciting Read Pink. Make a Difference campaign. 

Each of the Read Pink titles carry a 50p donation to Breakthrough’s life-saving work and, with holiday season around the corner, there’s no better time to get involved in Read Pink. Make a Difference as WHSmith is offering a "buy one get one half price" promotion on the titles.

Kath Abrahams, Director of Fundraising at Breakthrough Breast Cancer, said: "We are thrilled to be working alongside Penguin and WHSmith. This is a fantastic opportunity for these much-loved companies to join us in making a difference to the lives of the 50,000 women diagnosed with breast cancer each year in the UK. With their support, we can work to create a world freed from breast cancer."

Catherine Alliott, author of number one bestsellers including A Rural Affair and One Day in May, said: "I'm delighted to be part of the team of authors involved in supporting Breakthrough Breast Cancer. This amazing charity works tirelessly to promote early detection of the disease, research new treatments and provide the best care possible for patients. It needs all the help it can get to fight back.”

Throughout the eight-week campaign we’re encouraging you to head down to your high street and pick up one of the selected women’s fiction books by bestselling authors including Marian Keyes, Sue Townsend and Jojo Moyes.

Farewell 2012, hello 2013

It is nearing the end of 2012 and I am very excited about Christmas.  However last Wednesday I had one of the most surreal days of my life.  I went for an internal scan, not for any particular reason.  I then forgot about it and got a message from the hospital saying I had to go to see them for an apointment.  Now having had a lot appointments and operations at the hospital I was totally freaked out. 

I went to the Hospital and it turned out there is something on my left ovary and they are taking it out.  All signs are so far good, i.e, had a blood test and scan and nothing is showing up.  However, they can't say for definite until they take it out.  Life is weird sometimes it throws you in a different direction to the one you thought you were going in.  On this weird day my Husband and I walked down to the Hospital canteen and there on the front page of the Swindon Advertiser was my face with the caption, "Good news at last!".  The irony is strange, let's hope it is a good omen.  My friend said to me "You are better than an episode of East Enders at the moment,". 

Monday night I crashed my car.  I have no idea how it happened.  I was driving in a straight line with nothing in front of me and then all of a sudden I am driving into a black car and a silver van?  I cannot explain it, did the other driver pull out into me, or did my tyre blow?  It really shakes you up and bought out a flood of emotion.  I am okay now, but there is definitely strange things a foot at the moment.

Merry Christmas everyone and I wish you all a fabulous 2013!

Just a little poem I wrote!

The big C, you won’t defeat me!

The gauntlet had been thrown.

You tried to shatter my home.

Positive attitude would drone.

Here I go into the unkown.

A journey into the stormy sea

Sailing solo just me

Hold tight and weather the storm

I hear you shout “Why me?” across the sea

But no answers are to be found, they have all drowned

In the beginning the mental chatter in my head would never cease.

This bloody Cancer what a beast

Silently you came

But defiantely I will reign

You can go back from where you came.

I know not why you came and life will never be the same

What a funny game

The answers come from within but you can’t find them at the beginning

Wife, Mother, Daughter, work colleague, and friend I am

Here I stand with all the strength in my hands

I command you to leave me be with my family.

I banish you from this land.

I am victorious and the remainder of my life will be glorious.

I will not live in fear because my life is dear

You have given me more strength inside

And I have now turned the tide

The experience was not all bad and none of this makes me sad

I won the battle and the sea is now calm

Time to steer in a different direction

You stripped me back to who I am

My inner core I now adore

No more turmoil to be had, inner peace is to be had.

Life is a journey you have to sail

Don’t let the big C derail

Good and bad shape who you are

Let your worries out along with the tide, ride the big waves, and bask in the sunshine.

It is now my time to shine.

Face book friend or foe?

I am not on face book and I have had a lot of stick from some people as I am not on it.  Some people who sadly live their lives through face book, look at me bemused that I am not on it. I can see it is a good thing to keep in touch with people, particularly family that does not live in the same area as you. 

Maybe I am being cynical but I see a lot of people using it to just show off and rub people's noses in it.  I think if you use it in that way you are storing up bad ju ju for yourself.  I have seen people whose relationships have dissolved, they then use it as a weapon to show others how they have moved on quickly and now post regular pictures of themselves with new partners.....nice!  I know Family's that have fallen out with each other over trivial stuff on face book.  If I had a £1 for everytime I have heard someone winging about someone taking them off their friends list, I would be a rich woman.  Face book is not for me and I am probably alone on this one, but I will be staying away from it for now!

Nuissance telephone calls

I am want to thank the guy who stood up to nuissance telephone calls, by taking a persistent company to court and billing them with £10 per minute.  When I am at home during the day there is a constant stream of calls that are of no use to anybody.  If I want something I will go and get it.  I find them intrusive.  All I want to do is relax in my own home.   The telephone rings and when I go to get I am dissappointed to find it is someone asking for a person who does not live in the house anymore.  Most of the time when you speak to them they are rude to you.

It is about time someone stood up to these abhorrant companies that pester people in their own homes.  I am going to seek out his website and find out how I can stop these pesky people from calling me!

Wear it Pink - Friday October 26th

Hello Everyone,

It is Wear it Pink day on Friday 26th October.

Here are some ways you can raise funds for Breakthrough Breast Cancer:-

Look book:

A selection of top retailers, including M&S, Avon, ghd, Coast, Warehouse, my-wardrobe.com, Ciaté, adidas and many more, have launched a selection of exclusive pink products – all carrying a donation to Breakthrough Breast Cancer. Check out the look book, www.breakthrough.org.uk/lookbook

Other goodies are on BCAM shop: http://www.breakthroughshop.org.uk/

I will be organising a collection at work for Breakthrough.

So next week, think pink!

Tracey

October is Breast Cancer Awareness month

October is Breast Cancer awareness month.  I had a great opportunity to speak to my local paper on Wednesday about my experience with cancer.  I was over the moon with the article.  The great journalist Katie who came to my house to interview me, picked up on all the messages I wanted to send out to anyone who is going through it at the moment.  Thank you to Katie and the Swindon Advertiser.  If I can help someone who is going through it to see there is light at the end of the tunnel then I have done my job.

http://www.swindonadvertiser.co.uk/news/9964099.Cancer_survivor_has_a_message_of_hope/

I really enjoy doing media work for Breakthrough Breast Cancer and see it as a priviledge to be asked to support such a great Charity.  The steps they are making through research is amazing but will only keep going through charitable donations.

On a more random note.  I bought a onesie (adult baby grow) and I was very excited about it.  It is white with a sort of pink pattern going through it.  By the way, most Men are onesie hatters, so I have learnt!  Women on the other hand love them.  Any way,  I stupidly put it in with a white's wash, and turned all my whites pink!  So I am doing really well for wear it pink this month!  However, not sure my son will think the same when he has to wear his white/pink polo shirts for school, whoops!

Macmillan coffee morning

On Friday I arranged to hold the Macmillan coffee morning.  All it took was one email, to ask people to bake.  The response was phenomenal, we sold lots of cakes and raised about £450. 

I really enjoyed selling the cakes.  It was a time to step away from desks get a piece of cake and a coffee.  It was a real event and was truly humbling that people took the time to bake for Macmillan.  Of course I bought a few cakes, scoffed the lot and then started to feel a bit nauseas.

Macmillan is a fabulous charity and I was glad to be part of a great event. 

Where have I been?

Hello Everyone, in all honesty, I lost my blogging mojo.  I started to over analyse it, why am I doing it?  Does anyone read it?  I have decided I am going to start putting on the blog some of my novels and I want your feedback and comments. 

I am reading the obligatory book of the moment Shades of Grey.  I found book 1, good, slowly building up on the story,  book 2, was a little tedious.  My thought process was not again, seriously, is this Woman always ready for it?  I am now on the 3rd book and everyone has told me it is more about the story.  I must say it is not written particularly well but it is griping.  I find it fascinating that this triology has taken the world by storm and I am in aure of E L James and her success.  It is a great source of discussion, I have had many chats with other Women reading the book.  Mainly, in coffee houses.

Any way, off to read the next chapter.

Summer Time?????????

Ummm excuse me is n't this supposed to be Summer?  Well, we had about a week, which was about the time they announced the hose pipe ban.  As the self proficised draught was announced it has continually rained!  My lovely Summer wardrobe lies redundant at the bottom of my wardrobe.  I had boots on at the beginning of the week. 

Poor old Prince Phillip fell fowl of the dastardly weather.  Most of the floatilla looked like drowned rats.  Aparently the Royal Family could not even sit down on the chairs provided as they were soaking wet, bloody typical in this country.  Let's face it Wimbeldon starts next week so it probably won't get any better. 

I implore the weather Gods, please give us a great July and August, please please!  Everyone is getting fed up with this awful weather.  We need sunshine!  I want to wear my Summer dresses and flip flops.  When we had the good weather for that tiny snippet of Summer, I did maximise on the exposure of my Summer wardrobe and did at least two changes per day.  There is only rubbish on the TV as in the Summer we are supposed to be in our gardens or at parks enjoying the weather.  I am contemplating upgrading my TV package to add movies.  Depressingly enough next week is the longest sunlight day of the year on 21st June.  At this rate I might have to emmigrate somewhere.

The Olympic Torch

Yesterday I watched the Olympic Torch go by.  Now the Olympics does not really excite me, but to be part of watching the torch go by was amazing.  The atmosphere was electric. The streets were lined with people waving flags.  The sun was shining down on us.  It was a great day.

I watched the local news last night and was really emotional about the whole thing.  There was something magical about watching the Torch Bearers running through the streets with crowds of people jeering, each with their own unique story as to why they had been nominated.  These are ordinary people have an extra ordinary moment.  A moment they will never forget.  One of my friends was a Torch Bearer.  I can only imagine the elation she must have felt doing it.  I can not wait to see her to find out how she felt.  I am not sure if all the other countries that have held the Olympic have done this, but it really is far reaching and makes you feel involved and part of a once in a life time experience. 

I shall be staying away from London during the games as it sounds like it is going to be chaotic.  I just hope the predictions that there will be 3 hour queue's to get onto the tubes are wrong.  It was exhausting standing out in the heat, but well worth it.  Aparently Didier Drogba was on one of the buses that went by with the parade.  Not knowing who he is, I would not of recognised him if he passed me in the street!

Hose Pipe ban!

Everytime the words hose pipe ban are said, it rains continously for weeks and weeks.  It has been contiously raining on and off now for about 6 weeks, right after they said those words.  It is an absolute joke.  Why do the Water companies not concerntrate on fixing the mahoussive leaks in the old pipes and stop giving their fat cats big bonuses.  Simply that will sort the problem out.  They are saying if we do not get sufficient rainfall this year we will be having stand pipes in the street next year.  What grates on me is that the water companies will still want to be paid every month for their poor service. 

This consistent rain is making everyone so tired and a little bit miserable.  I am fed up with it.  Someone pointed out the other day that it is only about a month until it is 21st June and then the daylight starts to get shorter!  We need a decent Summer, just a few months of sunshine.  I have been acting strangely and can not stop buying Summer dressess.  I know ludicrous, will I ever get to wear any of them.  Some people have said I have jinxed it.  I only bought 6!!!!!! 

Then there is some folk who said they feel it in their bones that we are going to have a good Summer.  As traditionally, April and May are good and then it rains in July and August.  I hope they are right.  I look at the lanterns you can have in your garden on a hot Summer's evening and think, absolutely no point in buying them.  Garden furniture is a complete waste of time.  If it continues like this there will be some good sales on!  But what is the point buying it, as it will only rot in the garden.

All together bring on the Summer, will it to us!

Fashion Targets Breast Cancer Campaign

This Monday was the launch of Fashion Targets Breast Cancer Campaign. This year’s collection has taken on a patriotic British theme. We have some amazing British brands on board including M&S, Debenhams, Topshop, River Island and Laura Ashley. Each item carries a minimum 30% donation to Breakthrough Breast Cancer’s life-saving work. By rallying together in style, buying the products and helping to raise vital funds we can make a difference to people affected by the disease.

There are lots of different elements to the campaign this year as detailed below.

Fashion Products

Here’s the link to this year’s Fashion Targets Breast Cancer lookbook which details all of the products in our collection this year and the details of where they can be brought.

http://fashiontargetsbreastcancer.org.uk/lookbook/

FTBC launches on 30^th April. It’s the UK’s biggest charity fashion campaign and helps to raise money for pioneering charity Breakthrough Breast Cancer.

FTBC 2012 has three trends –Rainbow Fields, Royal Affair and Postcard Promenade – channelling iconic British past times and letting women chose the way they wear their support.

My favourite in the look book is the red Coast dress, very Victoria Beckham!

So come on and get involved, I am off to the shops!

London Marathon - Claire Squires

I watched the London Marathon on Sunday and I love all the stories about why people are running.  I find it very emotional as I ran in it 2006, so I can empathise with what they are going through.  It is a truly amazing experience and I would recommend it to anyone.  After, it you feel humbled to have been a part of a wonderful event.

On Monday I heard on the news that Claire Squires collapsed just before the last mile.  She was 30 years old and we are awaiting for the reason it happened.  She was running for The Smaritians and at that point she had raised £500.  Since, everyone has learnt of her death her sponsorship is now around the £500,000 mark.  What a fabulous achievement, I am sure she will be smiling down at everyone who has sponsored her.  It must give her family great solace at a really difficult time.  Her family must be really proud of her and the amount that she has raised. 

It just goes to show that there are a lot of good people in the world who are supporting the family by sponsoring her. 

Titanic

All week we have been plagued with documentaries about the Titanic.  As my Mother has been staying with me I have been subjected to watching most of them.  There is definitely a macarbe fascination with watching all the films.  The story line is the same, rich pompous people look down on the steerage passangers, and then it sinks.  It is a stark contrast to today's society, no risk assessment, no health and safety, just build a massive boat, stick the wrong bolts in it and it point it in the direction of some menacing ice bergs, oh and don't bother with life boats, no point as it is unsinkable.

What is fascinating is the way society has changed.  In those days it was very heirarchical and rigid.  A lot of you can't do this or that.  Thank God we are not like that anymore, today the lines between the classes is a lot less divided.  We all love the stories of people from humble beginnings doing well for themselves.  In those days if you have had done well for yourself your upbringing would have never been forgotten by the chattering classes.  Surely, life would have been really boring, talking to the same people about the same stuff, afterall, our individuality is what makes us interesting.

In the same week there was the documentary about the Costa Concordia that sunk on the Almafie coast.  It was scary watching it.  Most of the crew seemed bewildered with the events and the evacuation looked like utter chaos.  If the Titanic films are to be believed, at least they appeared to have the evacuation under control, just a shame they were in the middle of the Atlantic with not enough life boats.  I am surprised after watching the real footage that only 32 people died out of 4,000.  It was lucky that it happened so very near to the coast, if not it could have been a very different story.  Well, it has certainly put me off cruises for life!

Fuel for thought!

I was stunned at the panic over fuel last week.  I tried to go to a well known supermarket and it was like a scene from CSI New York.  Queue's of cars, men in flourescent yellow jackets running around talking on their walkie talkies.  I turned around as soon as I could to get out of there.

I think people were being a tad silly.  There were lots of options you could do:

1 Stay put
2 Walk
3 Use a bike

I felt sorry for the people that did really need fuel, having to wait for hours.  This is a demonstration of how powerful the media is, the tanker drivers had not even definitely said they were going to strike at this stage.  The problem now is that due to the panic buying, we have given the tanker drivers even more power for their arguments as they know that they can cause absolute chaos.  I personally don't agree with them wanting a massive pay increase on their already large salary when the rest of the country is on it's knees.  So come on people let's act sensibly and think before we panic.  Most of us can manage a few days without your car.

Spring has sprung...bong!

Well, the weather in the UK this week has been nothing short of fabulous!  Getting through the dark months of January and February most of the time feels like an endurance test.  At the end of January the Winter seems never ending and you are longing for warmer weather.  I dusted down my Summer clothes and shoes and have worn them and it is not even April, amazing.  The only slight sticking point is that in the morning the temperature has been dropping down to around 3 degrees.  Therefore, I was posed with a dilemma do I dress for the morning or the 20 plus degree afternoons.  Yep, you guessed it I dressed for the 20 and in the mornings my legs without tights were freezing on the playground.  I braved it though and by lunchtime I was warm.

Alas, tomorrow is said to be the last day of warmth.  Who knows when it will be warm again, but at least, I have already worn a few Summer dresses and shoes.  The weather pattern seems to have changed in the UK, we normally get good weather in April and May, June, July and August it is rubbish again.  If we are lucky September and October are okay.  I have seen a few headlines in the papers already claiming that we are going to have a heat wave this Summer.  I have heard that for the past 5 years and I am still waiting.  I will believe it when I see it.  In the meantime, on warm days I will wear as many of my beloved Summer clothes. 

Dukan do it!

A few friends of mine have done the Dukan diet.  My Husband said that he wanted to lose weight, yes, you guessed it, I put him on it and said I would do it with him.  The diet is to say the least very limiting but boy does it work fast.  Within a few days you can visibly see the difference, however, it does feel like you are going through torture.  Basically, all you can eat in the attack phase is lean meat or fish, eggs, fromage frais and cottage cheese (that is about it).  For the first few days I was starving hungry, but I perservered, after all, no pain no gain!

I never weighed myself in the beginning and I am now in week 3, but I can see a huge difference.  My Husband has lost about a stone and is much happier for it.  The strange thing it does is makes ordinary food you used to eat a treat, for example, a jacket potatoe.  It kind of retrains your brain as to what you eat and you realise being hungry is doable and won't harm you.  I am now following a low carb diet as we do eat too many carbs and don't get to burn them off.  In the beginning it was hard but it gets easier, at first you have to crack your sugar addiction.  I was slipping into eating a little bit of chocolate everday, but I have beaten it and I now don't even want any. 

So the message in my tale is Du know Dukan do it!

Mother's day - Breakthrough Breast Cancer

Make this Mother’s Day Matter and help in the fight against Breast Cancer

This March, Breakthrough Breast Cancer is urging to people to get behind their new campaign to  raise funds and Make Mother’s Day Matter.

It couldn’t be easier to spoil your Mum whilst also lending your support to this pioneering charity.  Just visit http://breakthrough.org.uk/mothersday and for a suggested donation download one of ten unique and stylish vouchers designed to make your Mum feel extra special. 

Each voucher, which can be personalised and printed, represents a promise from you to your Mum, and these range from making her breakfast in bed, to doing 3 hours of gardening, to cleaning her car, to giving her some peace and quiet.  As well as promising to treat your Mum to something special this Mothering Sunday, by making the suggested donation to Breakthrough Breast Cancer of the equivalent value of the voucher you will be  helping keep families affected by this terrible disease together for longer.

Breast cancer is a disease which devastates nearly 48,000 women and their families every year. By making a donation to the campaign  you will be helping Breakthrough Breast Cancer’s life saving research work and moving them closer to  their vision of a future free from the fear of breast cancer.

As a thank you for your support, when taking part and downloading a Mother’s Day voucher, you will automatically be entered into a competition for a chance to win an amazing spa treatment for 2 people at The Chancery Court Hotel, so you can treat your Mum twice over.

Helen Aithie, Product Development Fundraiser from Breakthrough Breast Cancer, said:

“We really hope that this Mother’s Day people get behind our campaign and help to make it matter.  By downloading a voucher and donating a small amount, not only are you giving your Mum an extra special treat, but you are also helping Breakthrough to save lives, so that more Mums can be around for many more Mother’s Days to come. I urge everyone to visit our site and get downloading, so we can Make this Mother’s Day really Matter.”