Yet another sponsored run

Hello...long time no blog...

As you may know I run the Race for Life every year for Cancer Research UK. In addition to my usual 5k for Cancer, last year I ran 5k in September at the HydroActive Women's Challenge for Action for ME, the national charity for people with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome.

This year I'm stepping it up...I am entered (and have received my orange & purple running vest - lovely) for the British 10k, a run through the streets of London. I am, again running for Action for ME because ME is a hugely misunderstood disease. No one knows this more than people with M.E., like myself.

I have just had to explain it to my boss in the light of me having a possible relapse. I ran just over 2 weeks ago and have been having a low period ever since. Hopefully this won't last too much longer, because I really do need to do more training!! More on that later...

Anyway, any generous readers out there can visit my sponsorship page: www.justgiving.com/runforme

Thank you xx xx xx

Where have you been?

create your own visited countries map
or vertaling Duits Nederlands

I know I have posted this before, but I've been to more places now! Sorry (again) for being a rubbish blogger. I have spent about 3 weeks living sleeping dreaming Brownie Holiday which is very dull for anyone who isn't a) a Brownie Guider or b) a HUGE fan of the Mr Men...

I have signed up to run 10k in July for Action for M.E. If you're feeling generous, my fundraising page is here. Help to inspire me to run!!

Soon I will post soon! But in the meantime, where have you been??

It's good to be back

Oh my gosh.... I'm back.

It has been an extraordinarily long time since I blogged. So long in fact that I was surprised to find that my URL still existed...I stopped for a number of reasons, the biggest of which was having little to write about and absolutely no time. I have also been battling a number of "diseases" and have had all my energy wiped from me!

So, what's been happening?? Not only have I not blogged, but I have let my normal readers down and haven't visited a blog in ages. This is mainly due to the fact that blogger is blocked at school, so I can't get on to any websites which have ".blogspot" in the title. Very sad, especially as blogging has been taken over by ebaying which is much more time consuming and far more expensive!

I'm now living with Phil and all is well. I couldn't move back home now I don't think. I have got too used to having my own space. We don't argue often and when we do it tends to be about something silly. I have a whole other blog post in my head about the whys of living with a man ("why does the shopping take 3 times as long with a man?" etc).

I am still at school, and with the Easter holidays fast approaching I can feel my body begin to relax. I love school, the boys are great and the therapy is interesting. It is quite hardcore though which as we know my body doesn't cope with. For this reason I am now on a cocktail of drugs to get me through the day. Sigh.

Good news is that I got into university to do my Speech Therapy degree. I went through 4 long and difficult interviews but was finally accepted to UCL (again) and Reading. I am going back to UCL in September and am really looking forward to it. I also passed my MSc with a convincing pass mark. The dissertation-that-tried-to-kill-me was all worth it, with my mark coming out at 66%. I was really chuffed, and am going to be graduating in September. I am officially "Clare Groome, BA (Hons), MSc.

That's all I think.... another post soon I promise!!

Quick update

I am still alive, though the inevitable half term bug did attempt to strike me down... I slept for two days straight and am feeling somewhat better now.

Please pay attention to the new addition to my side bar. Treasure Island is Ottershaw's Christmas production and it's going to be brilliant!! Swashing of buckles, lots of yo ho hoing etc. Come and see it if you're in the area, and if you're not, make the journey - it'll be worth it! Bring you children, your grandchildren, your aunts, uncles and cousins!

I am moving house in 3 days time and haven't started packing yet. There's been lots going on, mainly my beloved godfather Lester becoming very ill in Bristol. We've all been on tenterhooks for the last week, but sadly he passed away last night. Not really thinking about much else at the moment.

Off now to do my ironing, and think about packing. And try to decide which of the MANY pink things I own to use for the Photo Hunt this week...

Photo Hunt - Practical

I have been away...but now I am back, later than ever before, with an entry for "Practical". (I hope I'm still allowed to play after such a long absence?)















This entry is both practical AND pretty... And inside the handle are three useful additions :)




















The hammer is my mother's (she also has a tape measure). The stapler is mine, a birthday present in response to the request for "pretty things" for my birthday!

AWOL

I am alive. Some of you will already know this of course. Anyway. I live, I breathe, I sleep. No updates for a while due to everything fun being blocked at school (grrr) and actually not having much to say. Oh and the internet is dodgy at home and I got bored of Blogger crashing!!

News:

Loving new job, but finding it very tiring. Roll on half term!!!

Phil and I officially move in together in two weeks!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Watch this space....

Am in two plays at the moment, "Treasure Island" with Ottershaw Players and "Little Red Riding Hood" with Byfleet Players. Consequently I spend most of my time trying to remember which play I'm doing at the time and which lines I'm supposed to say...

Will be back in half term I promise!!!!!!!!!!!!

Photo Hunt - Paper

Another late entry from me - in fact all I seem to do at the moment is post the Photo Hunt entries...

Last week I talked about my plastic chair which is really uncomfortable when writing a thesis. This week....my thesis! Well, it fits the theme!

Photo Hunt - Plastic

Bit slow this week, and a bit of a random photo!




















This is my desk chair in my bedroom. I bought it primarily because it is pink...however, it is also very uncomfortable if you sit in it for a long time, which I have been doing recently due to my thesis being due! Anyway, a plastic chair for the photo hunt!

Photo Hunt - Music

Here is my "musical" offering for this week's photo hunt.... My brother (yes, despite the long hair) is playing the guitar in this picture, with his band Cowblanket. I don't know why they were called that and sadly they have now disbanded, but when they played they had a small but devoted following!!



















Enjoy!

It's a dog's life.

While I remember... In fact it was reading Welshcakes post about Simi that I remembered to post this - pictures of William and Grace after their haircuts. Normally Lhasas have long hair which reaches the ground. This has proved entirely impractical for our dogs, so we tend to keep them quite short. When we first have them done they look quite silly, but also deliciously neat and cute. It turns out that Gracey has very long legs and a very skinny body, whereas William is very stocky and muscley. They might not be to everyone's tastes, but I think they're gorgeous!

(on a related note, I was talking about the God Delusion by Richard Dawkins this week. I got my tongue twisted and called it the Dog Delusion, which would be an entirely different book!)

Not looking bad for 90

Yesterday me, Patrick, Daniel, Dad and Monika trekked to Ipswich to celebrate Aunty Nancy's 90th birthday. She was, as always, in fine fettle and as you can see, still looking good for 9 decades. She said she had had a wonderful birthday and was quite overwhelmed by how kind everyone had been (she received 46 birthday cards in all!). In the photo AN is enjoying a strawberry ice-cream (a woman after my own heart) and she was very proud to not only eat the world's biggest portion of plaice, but then to eat ALL of her huge portion of ice-cream. She said as she ate it "I will eat all this ice-cream even if I pop". And she did! (Finish it, not pop!)

Photo Hunt - Dirty

I didn't think I would post this week, and am doing so very late, but mainly cos I don't have a very good picture (did anyone else find this theme hard?) but also because I have been in the library all week working on my thesis and then in Ipswich today celebrating my Aunt's 90th birthday (see below)

So here are my not-great-contributions this week:














"Dirty Weather" at Pack Holiday 2007



















"Dirty Boat", Emsworth

Nostalgia

It was my Aunt Nancy's 90th birthday this week (on Tuesday, in fact). 90 years seems impossibly old for this very active and bright woman, but I am assured that she has been rocking and rolling for 9 decades now...

Anyway, Dad has organised one of those digital picture frames for her. I'm not really sure what that means, but he asked me to find some photos she might like. I had already found loads of old photos from when mum and I tidied her room a few weeks ago, so that was quite easy. I particularly like the one below, which was taken on my first birthday:












Back row (L-R): Grandpa Groome (Dad's dad), Aunty Nancy, Uncle Harry
Front row (L-R): Grandma Groome (Dad's mum), Dad (check out the socks), Mum, me and Grandma Vera, mum's stepmum (my Australian Grandma)

Whenever I look at photos like these I am always really grateful that my parents took to recording every moment of my life from birth (pretty much). When I am old and grey (and perhaps 90 years old), I hope I still have these photos to remember things by.

ok ok ok... I said I wouldn't post, but then I found out that I had been linked/mentioned/used (in a good way) on Nourishing Obscurity... A mentioned blogger is a happy blogger.

PS: the photo at the top of my page, and at the top of the post on NO, is by my dad whom I probably should have credited before now...

Please leave a message after the tone....

Clare is not available to blog right now, but will be back, after 14th September (but probably before) when dissertation hell is finished....

Due to lack of time, and rising stress levels, I seem to have neglected this blog. I am very sorry, as I still really enjoy reading everyone else’s. I may not be able to participate in the Photo Hunt this week as I am seriously stressed about work (dissertation due in oh not long enough days) and also can’t think of a suitable picture.

Instead I will leave this picture with you, for all the women who read this (again, sorry for 3 blokes who read this blog), which I received through email a few months ago. It made me chuckle, and I printed it out – it’s now on my wall. (You may have to click on it to read it better...)

Also, here is a picture of little Kieran George Hames, who was born on 29^th August at 10:33, weighing 9lbs. Kieran is the son of my friend Zanna (whose purple nails you can see in the picture!), who I went to school with.

For all you women...

Q: How many women going through the MENOPAUSE (or PMS) does it take to change a light bulb?

A: One! ONLY ONE!!!! And do you know WHY? Because no one else in this house knows HOW to change a light bulb! They don't even know that the bulb is BURNED OUT!! They would sit in the dark for THREE DAYS before they figured it out (as long as the TV and beer fridge still worked). And, once they figured it out, they wouldn't be able to find the stupid light bulbs despite the fact that they've been in the SAME CABINET for the past 17 YEARS!But if they did, by some miracle of God, actually find them, 4 DAYS LATER, the chair they dragged to stand on to change the STUPID light bulb would STILL BE IN THE SAME SPOT!!!!! AND UNDERNEATH IT WOULD BE THE WRAPPER THE "F&*%$£G" LIGHT BULBS CAME IN!!! BECAUSE NO ONE EVER CARRIES OUT THE RUBBISH!!!! IT'S A WONDER WE HAVEN'T ALL SUFFOCATED FROM THE PILES OF CRAP THAT ARE A FOOT DEEP THROUGHOUT THE ENTIRE HOUSE!! IT WOULD TAKE AN ARMY TO CLEAN THIS PLACE! AND DON'T EVEN GET ME STARTED ON WHO CHANGES THE TOILET ROLL !! . . .

Photo Hunt - Happy

PhotoHunt

My beautiful friend Emmie has a very characteristic laugh. I am lucky enough to have caught it on camera twice, once in Hungary when we were on a GOLD (Guiding Overseas Linked with Development) Project (one of the happiest times of my life) and once at her wedding, in July 2007 (one of the happiest days of her life). I thought both fitted the theme perfectly.














Emmie in Hungary 2003
















Emmie at her wedding, July 2007

Old photos

I have been feeling bored and nostalgic recently. I was looking through some old photos from uni and from when I went to Hungary and I came across this photo of Phil on his graduation day. I think its a lovely one of him, and I'm quite pleased with it from a photographic point of view as well.

I think the girl to his left (right as you look at it) is thinking evil thoughts though...

Photo Hunt - Two

PhotoHunt

Here is my offering for the Photo Hunt this week:

Two peas in a pod! (Except I'll let you in on a secret...they are both me!)

Furiousness

I sent an email to my dissertation supervisor and my head of department today concerning some problems I have had with the project. The contents of the email was personal and (I considered it to be) confidential.

My supervisor emailed me back with a very supportive email but he has copied two other people in on his reply, leaving my original email at the bottom. If I had wanted them to know, I would have sent it to them...

I am furious that my confidentiality has been breached. I just assumed he wouldn't forward it on to anyone. ARGH>