Monday 9 December 2013

And so the deed is done.........

I have done it - I have resigned as District Commissioner. It wasn't pretty, I can tell you.
I went to see my Division Commissioner about something completely different and it all just blurted out!!
Mind you, I did feel much better for it I can tell you. I then went home and emailed the County Commissioner who to be honest didn't seem all that bothered about it - which has me worried about what has been going on behind my back - have I ever told you that I am a tad bit paranoid at times??
Less than 5 days later,  a letter drops through my door "FYI" which is a copy of the letter sent to all of the leaders in the District saying that as my time nears its end, she would like someone to step up and take on the role - not a word about me resigning a year early.
We are now almost 4 weeks down the line and not a single person has stepped forward or been nominated as far as I know.
Kelloggsville even went as far as to suggest in a letter to the County Commissioner that our District would be better off split into the 2 villages with the workload being shared between the leaders instead of having a DC. Not sure if she has even had a reply about that one!
So, my housekeeping for the DC is well on its way - I have asked for the annual reports of the 12 Units to be emailed to me before Christmas - so far I have had 1 emailed back and my own unit - no change there then. I have reminded them all that they need to keep GO! up to date (that is when it's not having a major outage which does not help things I might add) and that their accounts need to be audited by an independent person and  a copy of a signed summary given to the Division Commissioner before the end of January 2014 - good luck is what I say. I still haven't seen either of the Guide Units accounts from the other village for this year yet!
We have a social event planned for the beginning of January, So far only the usual people have signed up to come along - oh well, we will have some fun I know.
I am counting the days - 22 to go - I do not have a big countdown on the wall of my office - honest!
I am looking forward to some quality time - I may even find some extra time to write on here more often - you never know :)

Saturday 26 October 2013

The Time Has Come ..........

I've reached that stage in life where I am fast approaching burnout!!

Work is going in directions I never thought it would go - meetings in the Houses of Parliament, presenting at national and international conferences, attending conferences in different countries!

Home life seems to be so busy - I thought that when Monkey was this age, our problems with childcare would be non-existent, that's not the problem, it's getting him to everything he wants to go to that is the problem!

Guiding seems to be taking up too much of my time - running my brownie pack each week and then being District Commissioner on top of that has me torn between where I should be and supporting what I ask myself. The Big Brownie Birthday is starting in January - to be honest I have no idea what is going on when previously I would be all set up and raring to go.

Something has to give - work isn't an option due to the small matter of needing to earn a wage, giving monkey up for adoption seems so tempting when we are having problems with him, but no! that isn't an option either!

The only other thing that can go is Guiding! But this is such a large part of my life! To be honest, I think I could cope with just being Brown Owl again - no meetings for this, that and the other to go to, stressing about back rent at the Scout and Guide Hut, stressing about 2 rogue Guide Leaders who seem to be able to charm their way out of anything and everything and push the blame on to others (namely me I might add) and despite being given ultimatums by the Assistant County Commissioner still seem to be in post despite missing them by 6 months and counting.

So my choice is made - January the 1st 2014 will see me resign with immediate effect from my District Commissioner role - that will be about an extra 24 hours a month I will gain back - not much in the grand scheme of things but if it means that I don't have to rush home and rush straight back out again within 10 minutes and gives me more time to spend with hubby (who's mantra is "work, brownies, social then us") then that makes me (and him) a happy person!!

 
I want more of these days - who wouldn't!!!

Wednesday 23 October 2013

That can't be right???

My weight has always been a problem for me and since Christmas last year I have been going to Weight Watchers most weeks in an attempt to finally shift some of my weight for good.

To say that it's been a struggle is an understatement  I can tell you! I have found it very difficult but have a couple of friends who are very positive for me and have helped me lots and lots!

I have sat around the 1 stone 4 - 1 stone 8 mark weight loss now for about 10 weeks. I have been up and down but can never seem to get the weight loss to stay off. I've even joined Zumba classes in an attempt to shift a bit more - I would love to be another dress size smaller by Christmas.

2 weeks ago I went and I had lost 5lb - wow. What had I done differently? I had tracked everything. I carried on the same way for the following week and when I was weighed, I had put on4 1/2lbs - I was like "what"????

So this past week, I have been slightly disheartened but have done my best to track, I have walked about as much as usual at work and even had half a bottle of wine at the weekend too. Got on the scales last night with my leader - 8lb off!!! I am now 2lbs away form my second stone and that would also bring me to my 10% weight loss -its taken me 11 months to get here but that goal seems very close.

The thing is, I know that no matter how good I am this week, I am sure to have put weight back on again next week - my body is strange!!

On the dress size front though? I have just dropped 4 dress sizes for work and my shirt size has gone from a size 28 (always bought big so that it would hide my hips) to a size 16/18 depending on the shop I'm buying from!

I do feel good!!

Will keep you updated with how I go

Monday 7 October 2013

I should be happy - shouldn't I?????

I've just had a lovely weekend away with my friends from Centenary Camp - it's the second time this year that we've managed to get together which is amazing really as we all lead busy busy lives!!

It was a busy week before I went away - two District meetings and then trying to get everything done on Friday night which I would normally take the weekend to do.

I caught the train to London and met up with 3 of the friends - the 4th one was getting in later. I had to carry my backpack with me all around London as we were staying in our Evil Team Leader's flat in Wimbledon and weren't going back there until later on. We walked everywhere (well it seemed like it!!) and finally ended up in Soho for our tea.

 
 
 
Having never been to this part of London, it certainly was an eye-opener!! We ended up in an Italian restaurant as one of our group didn't like spicy food so it rather narrowed our choice! Mind you the food was great - they served our pizza on a meter-long wooden board!!
 
After tea we made our way out to Wimbledon and to the flat we would be staying in. We stopped off in the local supermarket to get some wine and chocolate  - they were running low on supplies from the night before!!
 
We then spent the rest of the night talking and mulling life in general over - of the 5 of us who were there out of the 7 that could have met up I was the eldest with the youngest being just 22!!
 
We also realised that we had actually only know each other a total of 13 nights but just feel like we are really great friends.
 
2am came and went and we finally managed to crawl into our beds. One of the group had to leave at 7.30 the next morning but she was very quiet when she got up and only woke us as she was about to leave.
 
The rest of us sat chatting and then made the move to cook breakfast and shower - I had to leave about 10.45 to get back to St Pancras to catch my train home at 12.
 
When I got back, all was happy with the boys - there's a lot of teenage angst going on at the moment and my son and husband do clash a lot - but they had had a great "boys night in" with a DVD and a few snacks. Tea was all ready to go in the oven and I had nothing to do except unpack and relax!
 
Work today has been busy, deadlines to meet and only me to meet them - but what's new??
 
Went to Fat Club this evening feeling like I have really put on some weight, although I have been good (well almost) for the past week and found out that I have lost another 5 lb, so I am now at my lightest in many years.
 
But I just seem really down - I can't seem to be happy about anything at the moment.
 
I need to shake myself up and get back on track - there is lots in my life at the moment to be happy about, I just need to remember it!
 
Normal service will resume soon I hope :)

Sunday 29 September 2013

Times change

Just Small Thank You

this link talks about how I didn't like my son to play with guns when he was little - this photo shows you how times change!!


Hello Stangers!!

So, another 9 months have passed and I still haven't found the time to write a post!

Life for me continues to be very hectic - work seems to be getting busier and there is still only me with no admin support (I only want someone to work for 4 hours a day to help with all the paperwork!!), being District Commissioner again is just as bad as it was the first time round and with the Brownie Centenary celebrations being launched, I really have no time for myself or my family!

I have however made a concerted effort to look at my lifestyle and with that in mind I took myself off to Weightwatchers (again!) and although I have only lost just over a stone since Christmas, I have just got to my 5th dress size smaller - so I feel very pleased with myself.

This was me outside No.10 in 2011
 
And this was me outside No.10 two weeks ago!
 
So, I do feel better with myself! I still have a long way to go, but I will keep at it. Zumba has been a great help, but I have also been walking much more that I have ever had even to the point where I have taken myself off early in the morning to walk the fields and canals around here - something unheard of if you ask my family!!
 
Brownies seem to have taken over my life - which it shouldn't have with so many leaders at our unit but I maybe need to look at letting bits of it go and delegating more - I find it difficult to do this but the way I feel about having no time for me, then I need to make this a priority!
 
My son has just moved on to Explorers and is wanting to go to the World Scout Jamboree in Japan in 2015 - if he makes it through the selection weekend then we will have to find  approximately £3500 - that's a lot of fundraising!
 
He has also been in Army Cadets for over a year now and has been on a canoe camp, a weekend away and his annual camp. He has just applied for a skiing holiday for next February too which we should find out sometime this week if he has a place on this - more money!!
 
He has however made the decision to join the Army when he leave school - he wants to go to the Army Foundation College in Harrogate and complete his education there and then go straight in to the Army when he finishes that! It's great that he knows what he wants to do when he leaves school, but to be honest this really frightens me - maybe its because I'm his mum and to me he will always be my baby (he does however stand at over 6 feet tall and has size 12 shoes and he only turned 14 the week before last!!)
 
As parents we have always said that we would support him whatever he wants to do, so I just have to bite my tongue and smile and say " great idea monkey - lets see what we have to do to get you in there!"
 
Well that's my life in a concise nutshell, hopefully I will find a bit more time to write more posts as the weeks go on.
 
Have fun my friends :)

Sunday 20 January 2013

What Have I Been Doing Then???

So, I have been away for a long time - 15 months in fact!! I can't believe it's been so long!!
So much has happened - where do I start?
I failed at a job interview :(
I succeeded at a job interview :)
Mum was very ill - diagnosed with diabetes while in hospital with cellulitis and a bleeding stomach ulcer which was caused by the strong pain killers given to her by her GP. She was then found to have kidney cancer and has had to have a major operation!
I spent 6 months driving to and from Devon every weekend to look after my step-dad as he couldn't cook, wash clothes or iron clothes!!
My nan passed away in the middle of Mum being so ill :(
My son got arrested for shoplifting :(
My son joined army cadets -he will be in the army next :)
My new job is fantastic :)
I miss my old work friends so much :(
Guiding took a back seat for 6 months - my husband says :) I say :(
I met up with my school friends after almost 20 years :)
Celebrated 21 years with my hubby :)
Presented at 2 national conferences with my new job :)
Slept at the National Space Centre - again :)
Been awarded the Midlands Chief Guide Award for Services to Guiding in the Local Community :)

So many blog potentials - but no time to write!!!

I will try and write about some of these times as the weeks go on - hopefully you will dip in every now and then and try and catch up xx

Monday 14 January 2013

Well, hello there!!

I am back - well sort of - I know, I have been away for a long long time and having just checked out the blog, I realise how long it has actually been!! I have a new job at work and in Guiding - but I will come back soon and tell you all about it!

Speak soon - I promise !!