London calling

Yesterday I spent the day in London and managed to complete another two challenges set by friends.

The arguably easier one was to hire and ride a Boris bike.  How hard could that be?  2 phone calls lots of confusion and running between bike pickup points, and about 20 minutes I finally got 2 bikes.
There were then the tears from Hannah saying she couldn't ride it, it was too big, too heavy etc.  Once we got cycling in Hyde Park, we then had to negotiate the other rude cyclists who shouted and were abusive at us, and the teenage lads that Hannah said tried to run her off her bike by playing chicken I think with her.  Well I enjoyed my 15 minutes or so riding.  The sun was shining, the flowers were out, and I enjoy being on a bike.

The second challenge was to collect 40 different items on my trip out.
Here's the list to prove it!

Collect 40 different things in London

Train

1.       Train ticket

2.       Free newspaper

Wellcome museum

3.       Street map

4.       What’s on guide

5.       Matchbox puzzle

6.       Telescope

7.       Plastic gift bag

 British Library

8.       Paper gift bag

9.       Pen

10.   Book mark

11.   Shiny 10p in change

12.   Crisp packet from our snack on the roof terrace

13.   Map layout of library

14.   Library card

 St Pancreas Kings Cross stations

15.   Menu from café

16.   Book from my childhood list

17.   Receipt

18.   Tube map

19.   Tube tickets

 London souvenir shop

20.   Stationery set

21.   Mousemat

22.   Tea towel

23.   Postcard

24.   Fridge magnet

25.   Key Ring

McDonalds

26.   Chip bag

27.   WIFI guide

28.   Food guide leaflet

29.   Prize label from cup

30.   Stirrer

31.   Straw
32.   Condiments salt, pepper and Candarel

Oxford Street

33.   Superdrug magazine

34.   Religious magazine free handout on street

35.   Tanning salon flyer / voucher

36.   Theatre flyer

Selfridges

37.   Present for a friend

38.   Store guide

39.   Paper shopping bag

 Hyde Park

40.   Boris Bike receipts

41.   Leaf!

Nandos

42.   Napkin

43.   Pop bottle

44.   Take away menu

45.   Cup lid

46.   Kids menu / colouring sheet

47.   Chicken flavour indicator

Wembley and beyond

48.   Match ticket

49.   Programme

50.   Pin badge

51.   Toilet paper – unused!

52.   Betting slip

53.   Direction guide

54.   Child visitor wristband security tag

55.   Tube car parking ticket

56.   Rugby wristband              

I also managed to take 39 selfies, shame it wasn't one more.  I accidentally took one video by mistake.  That's my selfie challenge smashed too.

3 in one day!

Here's the link for them in their glory?!

https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10203928306593323.1073741968.1391613058&type=1&l=bb570b88f1

Wigan Warriors Welcome!

If you are reading this blog as a Wigan Warriors fan then I have made it into your match day programme!
I thank you for taking the time to read this.

You can follow my story from my previous blogs, detailing the story of how I almost 5 years ago got the devastating news that I had an aggressive form of breast cancer just days before my 35th birthday.

I am trying to raise awareness of the charity I support as well as get people involved in challenges.

You may wonder why I chose Wigan Warriors.  Well my sister lives just a few miles down the road in Hindley.   She has been a big supporter of the Tamworth Wellbeing and Cancer Support Centre helping to raise money even though we are almost 100 miles away.  My family along with the charity were there for me even during the darkest days of treatment.  My sister often would dash down the M6 at the drop of a hat when help was needed.  It therefore seemed logical as one of my challenges was to spectate at a sport I've never seen before to choose Wigan Warriors.
I'll be brutally honest I know very little about rugby league, other than seeing the odd game on TV.  The first thing I did was go onto the club website to checkout the team colours for the match!
I am looking forward to the match, where I'll bring my husband and son, as well as my 5 year old nephew, the only local amongst us to his first ever sporting event of any kind!

Now I need your help to complete some of the other challenges.  If you could post selfies for me at the ground or in your kit that would be great and tweet them to @louise_vernon.

If you have a £1or £2 to spare you could fulfill another challenge of getting 40 people who do not know me to sponsor me.

www.justgiving.com/Louisevernon4040

Or text 

LVLV75 £1 to 70070

thank you!

Insomnia

So it's 5.30 in the morning.   I'm sat here wide awake so what a great time to post a blog!
I'm on my mobile phone so I'm not sure how the spelling and grammar will look later!
Things are ticking along nicely with challenges at the moment although I'll need some new ones soon.  Probably the reason whilst I've been wide awake since 4.15.
I'm over half way through 40 days of exercise and so far have not missed a day.  I've done lots more walking these last few weeks.  I've read over a quarter of my childhood books and tried 12 different new foods and drinks only two of which I like and may ever have again.  I always knew I was a fussy eater.  Chariots of fire has now been ticked of my film list ET is next, just a slight contrast.
I have lots of ideas of things I could do but they are all just so expensive, perhaps a challenge would be to find free challenges to do!? Now that gets complicated at this time of the morning.
Thanks again for the tremendous support.  Lots of people have been talking about my challenges and donating too.  This has given me such a buzz.  It might sound strange but I have no regrets about having cancer.  Yes it does change who you are and yes I still worry that it will come back.  It has however let me appreciate more things and has hopefully made me a better person.  The scar across my chest does not shame me it inspires me.  Now if my challenges make just a tiny bit of difference to someone battling then they will be worth it.  I've experienced the real lows of the treatment not working now I'm experiencing the highs of being there for others.
Enough philosophical talking for now and hopefully some sleep before I need to get up for work.

The Centre relaunch and challenge progress

Today the Tamworth Wellbeing and Cancer Support Centre had it's official relaunch and I was in my element with my camera.

Me and my husband did our shirt swap in a very public launch.  I may have even kissed the badge on the Villa shirt.  I had lots of selfies, with the mayor and local MP in the process.  It was a great day to see the start of a great future hopefully for the centre, with our financial support it can go from strength to strength.

This is another challenge completed, plus a lot more awareness of my challenges.  The money is coming in nicely now up to £220, and once the auctions are completed I will be much closer to £400 target I have set.

I must thank Tamworth FC for their donation of a signed football, bidding is up to £20 already.

New foods tried today :- Marmite - two bites, this stuff has to be the most disgusting thing ever tasted.
Marmalade - much more palatable
Dates and tamarind - very similar in taste, bit curranty but again palatable.

I had great fun taking selfies for the solar eclipse yesterday, so I'm well past half way on this.

I'm off to London next week, so loads of opportunities for new challenges.

www.facebook.com/twcsc1
check out the facebook page, where you will find albums on the centre relaunch, my selfies and the auction.

www.justgiving.com/Louisevernon4040

if you still haven't donated yet.

Almost halfway to £400

Things have been ticking along slowly with the challenges, completed book number 7, the more grown up Day of the Triffids, which I had no recollection of having read, although I did in my teens (I hope!).  Onto a bit of lighter reading with some of my primary school favourites, Mallory Towers.

Both Samuel and I are up to day 15 of the fitness challenge, and managed a little something every day so far.  I also tried my 5th new food asparagus today, which tasted like most other green vegetables, so not a winner for me yet.  Perhaps I could try covered in lemon curd?

Thanks to the ideas and generosity of my sister challenge 18 is now underway, holding an online auction.

www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.929864173720083.1073741834.921411227898711&type=1

A very unfriendly link should take you to the auction photos for you to bid on.  Hopefully this should generate a bit more cash to my total, which currently stands at a very healthy £195.50.

I'm hoping that my scout pack might be able to work on a fundraising badge and help me later on in the year, so if any other groups or individuals fancy joining me on my quest, I'm open to help or suggestions.

Once again a big thank you for your support.  Now back to reading Mallory Towers.

Challenges gaining momentum but no more sponsorship

I've hit a bit of a barrier with fundraising since I last posted on Tuesday.  I've still not broken the £160 mark yet.  Please continue to share with friends and ask if they'll give even just a couple of quid, or perhaps put loose change in a pot for me for 40 day and see what we get.  The pennies all make pounds.  The centre I'm sure will be happy to collect your loose change, and I can include it in my fundraising total.  I'd love to get £400 before November.

Anyway back to the challenges.  Yesterday I embarked on the most physically demanding one so far.  I completed 40 lengths of a 25m pool that's 1km in total in 40 minutes, with 40 seconds or so to spare.  Now I know that might be particularly fast for a good swimmer but for me that was real hard work.
I got in the pool behind an older gentleman who seemed to take up the entire lane swimming.  He was also swimming ever so slightly slower than me.  This meant I needed to overtake him to be on target for my challenge.  If you picture two lorries on the M42 one trying to overtake the other you get the idea!  Except this one wasn't going to flash me in, or at least I hope not!  Anyway after using my strength to overtake I really had to work to get some distance between us.  After about 20 lengths, the sun started shining through the windows.  Now yesterday morning had been terrible, so when the sun started shining on me I saw it as a sign!  As I got to my last two lengths I thought of all the people I knew who'd lost their cancer battles, and I felt so immensely proud finishing.
The funniest thing about the entire challenge was on my return to the lockers, there in the cubicle where I'd been were neatly sat my trainer where I'd left them!  I'd been in such a tizz getting ready for the challenge I'd left them behind.  Fortunately I didn't need to drive home barefooted, now that would have been interesting.

So that's challenge two completed just 38 more to go.  I still really need other people to help complete some of them.  I'm still after inspiring photos for you to upload.  You can tweet them to me @louise_vernon.  I'm that tech savvy I had to look it up, include the tag #inspireme4040.

Thanks to a friend and volunteer at the centre I'm now well underway knitting some legwarmers to wear for another challenge!  Photos will follow.
I've started yet another challenge to volunteer for 40 hours.  This doesn't have to all be at the centre, as I also help out with my youngest's school and occasionally with his scout pack.  I started recording my volunteering when I helped with the kids at the schools swimming gala on Thursday, that was two hours in the changing rooms and poolside helping to supervise the team.  I then spent another two hours at the centre helping to setup for a table top sale today.  I think I've talked myself into running the school summer fayre in July so I've no doubt that my 40 hours will soon get completed!

I think that is enough rambling for this blog entry.  Hope you have a good weekend, and if you are lucky enough to be a mum, or be with your mum enjoy it this weekend!

Challenge 14 all booked up!

I've sorted out challenge 14 today.  I thought it would be good to go to watch a sporting event that I've never been to before.  I've been lucky enough to see football, athletics, cycling, rowing and swimming competitively so I thought I'd try something different.

Rugby league was the answer!
My sister lives just down the road to Wigan Warriors so what better place to go.  I don't even know how many players are in a rugby league team let alone what colours they where (red and white hoops I now know)  So on Good Friday I'll be watching my first ever rugby league match, look out for the selfie!

Progress on my other challenges is slow but sure.  Last night it was the turn of Close Encounters from 1977.  Even my 13 year old enjoyed it.   I'm up to book 7 in the children's book challenge.  I'm onto the slightly heavier Day of the Triffids, one from my teens.  I'm at day 8 on the fitness challenge, still plodding on.
My picture has now hit the teen world of  my daughter's instagram, so lots of spotty teens can see my full bald headed glory.

Fundraising has petered out a bit, but I'm hoping it will pick up with some of my bigger challenges .
Thank you for continuing to keep up to date and supporting my progress.  This whole thing has given me such a buzz!

Finally completed a challenge!

Challenge 13
I set myself the task of finding 50 photos I've taken since my diagnosis that reflected on my experiences of my travel in Britain.

After discovering I had breast cancer, I had to cancel a holiday I'd booked for the following summer to Turkey for my husband's 40th birthday celebration.  This whole process was very traumatic.  The holiday company refused to refund my £600 deposit or even give it to MacMillan their chosen charity of the year.  After all of this I vowed never to travel with a big tour operator abroad again.  I have not renewed my passport, but have instead tried to visit and experience the wealth that the UK has to offer.  I have not regretted this one bit, and as a family we've had some wonderful experiences.

The photos I chose are not to reflect my family holidays as such but to capture some images that I feel reflect Britain.  I've been lucky enough to go to both the paralympic games in 2012 and the commonwealth games last year.
I hope you enjoy my pictures as much as I did taking and choosing them!