The Cut

Sorry for the lateness of this - been trying to sort lots of stuff out and get You Tube to co-operate!


As you can see from the video above there were loads of people watching - made for a great event, if a little scary! The 2 6th form manning the bucket managed to get over £200 out of the watching crowd which was fantastic! I've raised around £400 online and about another £200 from friends & family. Altogether a very humbling and exhilirating experience!

Nerve Week

Wow, getting close to hair chop time - 18 hours to be precise!

I was starting to get nervous about it but after last night and this morning I don't think I could get nervous again this week without having some sort of melt down :S

Last night was Gig Night II, a great evening of all sorts of bands and combinations of muscicians that is very chilled and very enjoyable evening. I played and sang 'Oever the Rainbow' the Eva Cassidy version. It's something I have done on the ship before (well, once) but noone at school has really heard me sing or play the guitar. In the song before I actually started to feel almost sick, and then whilst I was playing I couldn't stop my legs from shaking and even my hands were shaking as I was playing the guitar! My voice must have sounded OK though because I got a lot of really nice and encouraging comments from everyone, including the Y9's (an acheivement believe me!). It sort of encouraged me to do more - but only if I stop getting that nervous.

I contrast, assembly this morning was a breeze, probably spoke too quickly but the girls all listened and focussed whilst I was talking and lots of them have said they are coming to watch the great hair cutting.

I am feeling nervous about it. The only thing that I can see in my head is the geeky 14-year-old I was the last time I got it cut. And even though I now wear contacts, my face has changed a lot and I take much better care of my hair; I'm just worried that I'll end up looking exactly like that again!

But now I guess I get to be a geeky 28-year-old who is being supported by her friends, family, colleagues (inc one coming in on her day off!) and students in drastically changing her appearance for 2 very good causes. And if I think about that, I don't get nervous at all :)

5 days to go!

Well the day draws nearer and I'm beginning to feel nervous!

However before that I have to give an assembly tomorrow morning (about 81/2 on the scary scale) and then sing and play on Wednesday night (9 on the scale) so by the time I am sat down in front of half the school (and some press!?!) on Friday lunchtime I should be used to a queasy feeling in the bottom of my stomach.

Just come back from a fab weekend planning for Lee Abbey this summer. I can only do the second week but I really feel it will be worth going, and a week should be long enough to recover fom Peru! It was nice to be in a Christian environment for a bit and to focus on God instead of all the other craziness going on at the mo. Felt like a real break, and even though Im shattere, I do feel rested.

Sponsorhip is up to £165 which I'm very chuffed with. Not sure I'll reach my target but going to give it a right good go :)

My hair is going to a better cause

I have decided to have all my hair cut off - well, leaving 1 or 2 inches so I won't end up with a sun burned scalp in Peru!

A rash act you may think (certainly a few people round here do!), however please pause in your calling of men with butterfly nets to hear my case.

I recently found out that a friend of the family, Bessie Smith, has Motor Neurone Disease. If you wnat to find out what this merciless disease consists of then please take a look at this link. It basically robs you of your independence, your mobility and sometimes you memory and mind. All in a short space of time. There is no known cure and sufferer's can end up completely unable to move, talk, eat and even breathe independently - however they can still have complete mental awareness, it's to terrifying to contemplate.

Bessie was diagnosed last year. We used to spend many holidays with her and the family - I remember them getting married, the boys being born and vrious summer holidays. It was alsway so wonderful to get to spend time with her - she meant a lot to me and I'll never forget what a wonderful motherly person she was. She has gone from being a bright, sharp, caring woman who was a nurse to someone who only wants to sit around all day watching cartoons and behaving like a 4-year-old. MND has affected her by altering her personality - a rare result of the disease, she has dementia, and, it has also weakened the muscles in her mouth and throat so that she cannot speak or eat. She has had to have a feeding tube fitted.

This has been hard on her and her husband, Phil, who went to college with my Dad, and her 2 boys who are 15 and 19. She spends 2 days a week at the Earl Mountbatten Hospice on the Isle of White, where they live, as respite for her and the family. The hospice only receives 1/3 of it's funding from the NHS and has to raise the rest. They need to raise £2million every year to keep going. Due to the recession they have already had to let staff go - including the nurse who was looking after Bessie.

Phil is doing a tour of the UK on his motorbike to raise £5000 for the hospice, and I felt I would like to do something to help. I was thinking of having my hair severely trimmed before the summer, but then I found out about Bessie and it started me thinking. I had heard of the Charity "Little Princess Trust" from a friend of mine and knew that they used hair to make wigs for kids with cancer. I checked out online and they need 10-12 ". I definitley have that much so it made up my mind. I can't have it shaved due to Peru but I will go as near as I can!

If you feel you would like to sponsor me/donate money to the hospice then please go to my justgiving page. I am getting more nervous by the day about having this done, the last time my hair was that short everyone thought I was a boy! I just have to think of Bessie though and my determination returns :)

In of preperation Easter Celebration

Ah, my first taste of chocolate for 6 weeks......mmmmm

And this afternoon - the alcohol, bring on the Pinotage........

Enjoying my 3 week holiday, have a shiny new laptop to play on (Sims2 works like an absolute dream!) so it means i can also crack on with the video editing (which pretty much turned into a farce using my school computer). I have finished my marking, which was actually good fun what with some of the reasoning behind their design choices, and next week I'm going to plan so hopefully the crazy first 4 weeks of next term wil go fairly smoothly.

Spent some time in Cov, visiting folks. Had a great time with Corey when he came to visit. Actually got to be a tourist in Bath which was great fun - the Roman baths are brilliant, well worth the visit and so much bigger than you think from the outside.

Still waiting to here aout the Peru situation - and we have our training weekend in 3 weeks, slightly worrying. Never mind I'm sure it'll all be fine :S

so...about that marking

Have just spent a lovely 4 days chillaxing in Coventry.
Vicky is back from Ireland for good, hand in plaster and now mooching - what will happen next?

The show went really well on Saturday - think it was the best I had ever sung it. Pam agreed which was reassuring and then had a text off the choral mistress (Anna) at school and she congratulated us and said I had a great voice..... I was all warm and fuzzy :) Stayed until about midnight to help clear up and then had to go home pack, tidy up etc so got to bed about 1am..or make that 2am with the hour forward an' all. Then up at 6 to drive myself and Matt up to Cov for Jo's Birthday BBQ. Fabulous weather and a great day. I am proud indeed that I managed to keep the coals at a good cooking temperature form 12 midday until around 9pm.

There was fun on the actual birthday morning as one of the housemates and her fiance bought Jo the same present as Me and John (Jo's bf) but we decided not to let Jo open the other one and get her something else. I was mightily impressed with John's ability not to crack under the laser like questioning form Jo as to the exact make and model of the afore mentioned present!

Had a brain wave later in the morning, rushed into town, avoided the shoplifter, closely followed by the securtiy guard and trailed by the shopper , and bought her Mario Kart for the Wii plus an extra wheel. It seemed to go down well.

Have spent the last couple of days wacthing some Gilmore Girls and visiting some folks. Got to meet Jessica (new addition to the Parker brood, and one of the most chilled babies I have ever seen!) and saw Wythall Theatre company rehearsing their next production 'Steel Magnolia's'. It was good to see the folks again and also Sarah and Kate (both friends from Church) are in it and I was blown away by their acting (especially Sarah!) I cannot wait to see the final product :))))

So now I am about to head home and actually get some work done....no. seriously....I will.

The sky at night

Just wandering home from the Y13's assessment evening and paused to look up at the starry sky..... only a short pause due to the biting wind but lovely and worth while one!

One of the things I miss most about being on the ships is the space. Ironic, you might think, as I shared a small cabin, lived and woked with the same 25 people for 8 months and sometimes couldn't find a place to be alone. But some of my favourite moments were when I had finished DJing or been up late working and I used to go up onto the top deck and just look out across a dark sea into nothing, and then look up at a perfectly clear and uniterrupted (except for the horizon) sky and see the stars. The more I looked the more I saw and the more it made me marvel at the amazing creation of the Universe. However you believe it got there/ we got here it is still a beautiful, awesome thing to admire and wonder about.

Tonight, I stood in the middle of the hockey pitch. There was no extreaneous light, no throbbing engines, and no background music (bane of my flippin' life!). Just an owl hooting, the sound of the wind, and the very quiet murmur of the traffic on the A4. Gorgeous :)

Don't you just love a suunny productive day!

Have a had a good weekend, show went really well. One of the Bosses and my Mum & Alan came to see it on the Saturday which was the first time I was really nervous - but it's probably the best I ever sang the duet!

Got a lot of cleaning, baking and generally sorting out done as well as getting to spend some time at Dyrham park chillin' and reading in the sun - all in all a great weekend without a whole load of stress - for once.

My fabulous trio of P.S.T techies did a great job of dealing with the Y13 A-level performances on Friday night, I feel very proud of them, especially as 2 of them had never seen the plays before and 1 of them had only seen 2 (there are 4 plays in total).

I have my dinner in the oven and a lovely form from the DVLA telling me it's been 10 years (!!??!!) since I had my driving license and I need to renew the photo or be fined £1,000 , so I really should go and see to those things!

'Tis me, and I need a diet!

Check out this link. It is the article in the Bath Chronicle about AD34.

See the small photo on the right (or if you got to the 'entertainments' section it's there), see the pudgy person to the right of the white T-Shirt guy (Paul - who is playing Saul/Paul slightly confusingly!) with a Black V-Neck on....that's me.

The photo is small, very pixelly and almost pointless.....however it makes a point to me; that I don't want to see the big one, because then I will feel the need to wear a baggy jumper on stage and go into hiding until I lose a stone.....ah, the price of fame!

Check out the revenge of the stick man!

If follow this link you will find a highly amusing , and very clever, couple of minutes - and for anyone who has tried to animate in the minefield that is flash, you will appreciate it all the more!

Tech went well tonight, although I ended up helping (although I'm not sure how much!) with the lighting desk (a Zero 88 Jester - slightly similar to the Frog we have at school, but different enough to make it awkward!) and attempting to sort some mic issues out. So a trip to Enlightened is planned tomorrow to swap some stuff! Voice is a little sore but I'm sure it'll be fine. Full Dress tomorrow night, first time I'll have worn foundation in .... mmmm.. 2 1/2 years (since the lat play I was in!) - ah the joys! I have to say I have had soooo much fun doing this show, even though it is longer hours than most of the Wythall stuff (whom I love dearly!) it is made so much less stressful by the fact that it's a church production :)

More sunflowers etc have made there way through to the sunlight - photos tomorrow hopefully...it's very exciting!