Hiya!
So after the week I was looking forward to the weekend, but outside the normal confines of an nine-to-five office environment I sudden found myself craving chocolate, sweets, fast food and fizzy drinks. Over the last few months I have tried my hardest to get to the gym at least once a week and ideally twice if possible for either classes or swimming, either / or since the gym bore's my tits off. I can stand nothing worse than running for an hour or cycling ten-miles, only to not get or go anywhere. I think that's why I love classes so much. The variety and fast-paced nature of having to keep up with other fellow fit-bunnies and the fact that you are forced to look into the mirror whilst you attempt your fifteenth squat in a row.
So far over the last few weeks I have tried several classes including BodyStep and Legs, Bums and Tums. I will be honest and say that the BodyStep was far, far too intense for one of my first classes and as a result I was in a lot of pain for some days after. Almost a week later I tried out the Legs, Bums and Tums class, similar to that one I did all those many moons ago with Miss Hackney back in my old job. It was certainly less intense and much much easier to get to grips with and keep up with the moves and jives. In the next coming weeks I plan to expand into the pool and AquaFit or AquaAerobics, maybe even a more energetic looking BodyPump class.
The thing is, with weight anyway, is that it is so very, very easy to put on and extremely hard to get off. Fast food, sweets and chocolate in the supermarket are over-priced but with constant deals and offers that make you think that you are getting a good deal you see it as a treat, that is, until you have a Snaccident AKA When food (a snack) is consumed in an accidental, often regrettable way. This can refer to accidentally eating food of questionable quality and/or quantity. Everything has sugar and salt in it in modern days and it seems like its all backwards. Ketchup has high levels of sugar and a Donuts will have high levels of salt.
I look at my family and I would say that direct blood relations to me would be an average or around 75% overweight or obese and several have even been classified as morbidly obese. It scares me to look at them and wonder about how long they will be around for, least how long I will be about for. I want to be different to my parents, I don't want to be the fat Momma in the playground, sitting on a bench watching from a distance. I want to be able to chase my kids about and run to get them from school and drop them off to their next activity without getting out of breath running up the steps.
Just a short one this week but I hope that next week I will have more to tell, for the upcoming weekend is a payday and I am well overdue for a night out on the tiles and maybe even a cheeky few treats of the non food variety.
'Til next time, Love A.Lou xx
Showing posts with label Hope. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Hope. Show all posts
Monday, 20 March 2017
Monday, 27 April 2015
Giving the Gift of Life!
Evening all,
So last week I was talking of learning to drive and slowly but surely scraping the money together in order to afford my motorcycle licence, and whilst still important something caught my eye as I was reading a newspaper the other day on my morning commute.
About a year ago, childhood sweethearts from Cardiff in South Wales gave birth to a little baby boy called Teddy and his twin, Noah. Teddy was poorly and after a few hours he sadly past away. A story widely covered by the British media I was in awe of how little Teddy's parents handled the traumatic ordeal as after much deliberation they allowed his tiny frame to be donated in the aid of helping others through being a donor. I believe that both his heart and his kidneys were used in helping someone else live a day that this brave little bear couldn't have.
I was shocked to learn that since the 1st of April 2015, there are over six-thousand people awaiting a organ in the UK. That means that every single one of those people, in the majority of circumstances, are awaiting a death to bring them life. In the last twenty-seven days since the beginning of the month, sixty-eight people have donated something in aid of helping another person to live on which is fantastic, but in comparison to the one-hundred and seventy-one people who took a transplant or donated organs its sad to see that people are more willing to take than they are to give. And this got me thinking about me. And as I stared out the window at the oncoming traffic and the trees and buildings passing me by I thought about what I would do in that situation. In all honesty I would like to think that everyone would act in the same way, giving up parts of their child so another human life can be saved. I would like to think that I could do this, however if faced with the circumstances I don't know if I would truly be able to go through with it. I have always said that organ donation should be an opt into service as opposed to the current, opt-in system we have here in the UK. If I don't want my organs being shipped out across the country, possibly even the world, then I should be within the power to say no before that happens. I am currently on the donor register in England and Wales and am proud to know that if I sadly die (unfortunate I know) that I could potentially save multiple lives, and thus ending and preventing the grief for their families, at least for a short while anyway. I have donated, at least registered them for donation should anything happen to me, some of my most medically sought after assets including my Liver, lungs and Kidneys ... Just like Teddy!
There is a line whereby I draw and say enough is enough. I would have certain rules on who gets a piece of me, I mean there isn't that much "brilliant" for everyone! I would ask that my organs are never given to anyone who failed to look after their own, for example my lungs to an inherent smoker for the past thirty years or to a alcoholic whose liver had packed up from all the White Ace and Frosty Jacks. No, I would insist that my items go to someone whom will love them as much as I have and cherish them as they're own. As well as that, out of the list of donated items you can gift someone I have only two exceptions; My eyes and my heart. My eyes, or moreso my Corneas which are of most value to people can bring the magic of sight, yes, however I would want them kept in tact as I head to the grave, in the knowledge that no-one will every see some of the most beautiful, and sometimes heartbreaking things. My heart on the other hand I am grappling with. On the one side you have the fact that it is something all the more metaphoric and symbolic. With my heart I have loved many (you have seen the amount of Mister's I go through) and may there be many, many more to come. The phrase "Listen to your heart" is one I think sometimes I have done too much in the past but worry that in the future I will look back and regret I never did enough of. But then on the other side of the coin you have the simple scientific and biological fact that it is just tissue and muscle and a organ that powers my entire being. Without it my existence would be nothing and I would quite frankly be dead!
Death is horrible to think of and about, but it is as natural as nature intended. From the moment we are born we are dying (and in some cases a Monday afternoon can escalate that feeling all too well some may say) but one thing is for sure that as we take our first breath's as babies, screaming for air, we are destined for a life of unknown fortune and fate! Its not nice to have that conversation with Granny or Grandpa but sometimes I really do feel like you have to. In order to preserve and respect their wishes beyond the grave you have to talk about it when you have the chance, after all you wont get any answers from a cold corpse and I would hope that my friends and family would know what I want and help me in achieving that after I am gone.
I would hope that I could make it into my nineties before I die. I would like to get a letter from the Queen (or King by that point) congratulating me on my 100th birthday. I would like to see my children, have children, who in turn will have more children. I would like to fart and blame it on a dog I don't have and get away with it just because I am old. But if that day doesn't come, and I am called away on business by another entity then I am safe in the knowledge that I can not only spread humour and laughter through my story telling and wit, but also through helping others, because its not every day you can say you saved not one, but many lives, maybe even created a few in the process of giving something un-giveable.
To find out more, please visit: http://www.organdonation.nhs.uk/ and don't just think about it, register and start saving lives as soon as yours has ended. Thank You.
'Til next time, Love A.Lou xx
So last week I was talking of learning to drive and slowly but surely scraping the money together in order to afford my motorcycle licence, and whilst still important something caught my eye as I was reading a newspaper the other day on my morning commute.
About a year ago, childhood sweethearts from Cardiff in South Wales gave birth to a little baby boy called Teddy and his twin, Noah. Teddy was poorly and after a few hours he sadly past away. A story widely covered by the British media I was in awe of how little Teddy's parents handled the traumatic ordeal as after much deliberation they allowed his tiny frame to be donated in the aid of helping others through being a donor. I believe that both his heart and his kidneys were used in helping someone else live a day that this brave little bear couldn't have.
I was shocked to learn that since the 1st of April 2015, there are over six-thousand people awaiting a organ in the UK. That means that every single one of those people, in the majority of circumstances, are awaiting a death to bring them life. In the last twenty-seven days since the beginning of the month, sixty-eight people have donated something in aid of helping another person to live on which is fantastic, but in comparison to the one-hundred and seventy-one people who took a transplant or donated organs its sad to see that people are more willing to take than they are to give. And this got me thinking about me. And as I stared out the window at the oncoming traffic and the trees and buildings passing me by I thought about what I would do in that situation. In all honesty I would like to think that everyone would act in the same way, giving up parts of their child so another human life can be saved. I would like to think that I could do this, however if faced with the circumstances I don't know if I would truly be able to go through with it. I have always said that organ donation should be an opt into service as opposed to the current, opt-in system we have here in the UK. If I don't want my organs being shipped out across the country, possibly even the world, then I should be within the power to say no before that happens. I am currently on the donor register in England and Wales and am proud to know that if I sadly die (unfortunate I know) that I could potentially save multiple lives, and thus ending and preventing the grief for their families, at least for a short while anyway. I have donated, at least registered them for donation should anything happen to me, some of my most medically sought after assets including my Liver, lungs and Kidneys ... Just like Teddy!
There is a line whereby I draw and say enough is enough. I would have certain rules on who gets a piece of me, I mean there isn't that much "brilliant" for everyone! I would ask that my organs are never given to anyone who failed to look after their own, for example my lungs to an inherent smoker for the past thirty years or to a alcoholic whose liver had packed up from all the White Ace and Frosty Jacks. No, I would insist that my items go to someone whom will love them as much as I have and cherish them as they're own. As well as that, out of the list of donated items you can gift someone I have only two exceptions; My eyes and my heart. My eyes, or moreso my Corneas which are of most value to people can bring the magic of sight, yes, however I would want them kept in tact as I head to the grave, in the knowledge that no-one will every see some of the most beautiful, and sometimes heartbreaking things. My heart on the other hand I am grappling with. On the one side you have the fact that it is something all the more metaphoric and symbolic. With my heart I have loved many (you have seen the amount of Mister's I go through) and may there be many, many more to come. The phrase "Listen to your heart" is one I think sometimes I have done too much in the past but worry that in the future I will look back and regret I never did enough of. But then on the other side of the coin you have the simple scientific and biological fact that it is just tissue and muscle and a organ that powers my entire being. Without it my existence would be nothing and I would quite frankly be dead!
Death is horrible to think of and about, but it is as natural as nature intended. From the moment we are born we are dying (and in some cases a Monday afternoon can escalate that feeling all too well some may say) but one thing is for sure that as we take our first breath's as babies, screaming for air, we are destined for a life of unknown fortune and fate! Its not nice to have that conversation with Granny or Grandpa but sometimes I really do feel like you have to. In order to preserve and respect their wishes beyond the grave you have to talk about it when you have the chance, after all you wont get any answers from a cold corpse and I would hope that my friends and family would know what I want and help me in achieving that after I am gone.
I would hope that I could make it into my nineties before I die. I would like to get a letter from the Queen (or King by that point) congratulating me on my 100th birthday. I would like to see my children, have children, who in turn will have more children. I would like to fart and blame it on a dog I don't have and get away with it just because I am old. But if that day doesn't come, and I am called away on business by another entity then I am safe in the knowledge that I can not only spread humour and laughter through my story telling and wit, but also through helping others, because its not every day you can say you saved not one, but many lives, maybe even created a few in the process of giving something un-giveable.
To find out more, please visit: http://www.organdonation.nhs.uk/ and don't just think about it, register and start saving lives as soon as yours has ended. Thank You.
'Til next time, Love A.Lou xx
Monday, 6 April 2015
Amen.
Evening all,
So this weekend has been one of the first Bank Holidays for 2015 and as its Easter I would like to wish ya'll a Hoppy (Easter Reference number one) Easter! And whilst I was banging on, and have been for a while now about my future travels and my itchy travel-bug bite, I have stayed at home in Blighty this Bank Holiday and spent the majority of it with the other half, AKA Mr. Warehouse, and some work colleagues, whom also happen to be Mr. Warehouse's friends and family.
Friday was relaxingly entertaining as Mr. Warehouse and I walked his Golden Retriever in the nearby countryside that backs onto his home just outside Bedford. And so, after a very muddy and soaking-wet trip to the shore of the Lake watching the canine jump in and out of the water like a spawning salmon we all decided to call it a day. Once home we bathed the poor pup, soon settling into the sofa with our Chocolate Easter Eggs and a movie. Saturday Mr. Warehouse and I had planned to go and do some shopping but was hindered slightly by the fact that ever since the previous evening, Mr. Warehouse had been suffering from a tight chest and had barely slept throughout the night. Worried I knew it was an Asthma attack and begged him just to go to a doctors, albeit in vain. After picking up an inhaler we headed out, and returned later than evening from a hard days shopping and browsing to a wonderful Chinese take-away and a chance to meet Mr. Warehouse's Mom's new fella, whom seems nice and friendly, just what she needs, I think!
Yesterday however was an experience, I have to say. Mr. Warehouse and I had been invited to what was in some way a Christening but was called a "Dedication" meaning that the child would be promised to god and when it was finally old enough to make it's own decision then it could choose whether to be baptised or not. In all fairness I think its a cracking (Easter Reference number two) idea. As a Christian I was brought up with my Grandparents teaching me about the ways of the lord, learning things at Sunday Schools and trips to Church when I stayed at my Nanna and Grandads the occasional weekend my parents wanted some "adult time" away from the kids, and I must say that in all the years I had gone to and been a rather insignificant member of the congregation, albeit a part nevertheless, I had always questioned and doubted the things I had been told were gospel.
I think that in any respects of religion the science and fact of the twenty-first century outweighs the fables and folklore surrounding them. It is physically, not to mention completely inconceivable to part sea's, turn water into wine and give birth to the son of god whilst claiming to be a virgin still. I have tried turn water into wine, many times, and I have failed on all accounts. Maybe this is because I am not Jesus or god himself. Or maybe it is because they are simple tales to help people who were struggling in a time of upheaval, war and dictatorship. I am positive that like Syria, Iraq and other places in the middle east today, Jerusalem in year dot was not a nice place either. Tales and stories about a couple who was born of humble beginnings becoming the adoptive parents to the saviour of all mankind was something of fairytales. Miracles and adventures to follow the Bible, whilst some of it may be truthful of the time, the majority, in my eyes at least is fiction. I love the ideas that thousands of people can be fed by just a loaf of bread and a couple of fish or that out of everything endured somebody can rise from the dead but these seem to me ancient explanations for very simple life events.
A man is murdered on a cross and buried in a tomb with a large boulder obstructing the entrance. In the days that follow the body of Christ is nowhere to be found and it is said he has risen again to help all of humanity. Question is science may have an explanation for this. In my mind it is plausible, and in maybe a small case possible, that the boulder was moved due to a shift in the ground such as an earthquake or tremor or even moved by hand. This in turn would open up the cave/tomb to thieves and looters of the time. I mean what was stopping someone getting rid of Jesus' corpse and posing as the Christ Almighty in order to gain fame and notoriety. God was maker of all so why did he not just create more saviours of the world once the only one he ceased existence.
For example, I went to a funeral last year and all it seemed to be was God this and Jesus that. The focus I feel should be on the person in the box not a man who no-one has really seen. A funeral should be about mourning and celebrating a person and who they were and what they meant to people. A wedding should be about love and the coming together of two people with their families in order to make way for more family members in a stable home with a good, steady upbringing. A christening should be the celebration and joyful beginnings of a child's life. All these events that are held in the presence of the lord, usually in God's house should be about the here and now as well as the future to come, not about the past and how the moment and moments to come would never have happened if it weren't for the sacrificing of God's only son. Now don't get me wrong, I love the idea of a church wedding in the British sunshine and weekly trips on a Sunday morning to see friends and family as well as investing time into the community, but why can't you do that without Religion. Sing songs that are in the charts and that we all know the beat to, talk about issues in the local area that affect real people and praise the good of the world that we live in whilst making a difference to those to home. A church of people and a Religion of Community Spirit.
Its not fact obviously but in my opinion the Christian religion, at least, is something worth questioning with the information, fact and science we know now. Truth is we will never know if the story of Easter is true, at least by all Christian accounts any way. Its a controversial opinion yes, and one you may disagree with but nevertheless an opinion I have. All I know is that the church I visited with friends and family on Sunday was not as heavy as some others I have attended and as a self-styled 'community church' it was as friendly and inviting as it possibly could be. Indeed, as I looked around sceptically at the church-goers on that bright Sunday morning I saw hope and positivity. Old people that had come and donated their time and money towards something they believed in, a cause for helping others as well as an excuse to get out of the house once a week and meet up with some old faces over a cuppa and a Rich Tea. In their wrinkles I saw lives that had been lived fully, tragedy and joy endured and not all in equal measures. They were living for something. People from all walks in life, old and young, disabled and abled, poor and well-off - This is what they believed in and had faith with someone from a story book written hundreds of years ago. But most of all it made them happy. As the singing came to a close and the ceremony over with I noted the peacefully nature of the place and the smiles and grins on the faces of all who left. It then dawned on me as I looked over at the children's reading books in the corner - Religion is no different than Cinderella or Snow White. Difference is that whether you are a follower of it or not, without it the world would be a very, very different place indeed ...
'Til next time, Love A.Lou xx
So this weekend has been one of the first Bank Holidays for 2015 and as its Easter I would like to wish ya'll a Hoppy (Easter Reference number one) Easter! And whilst I was banging on, and have been for a while now about my future travels and my itchy travel-bug bite, I have stayed at home in Blighty this Bank Holiday and spent the majority of it with the other half, AKA Mr. Warehouse, and some work colleagues, whom also happen to be Mr. Warehouse's friends and family.
Friday was relaxingly entertaining as Mr. Warehouse and I walked his Golden Retriever in the nearby countryside that backs onto his home just outside Bedford. And so, after a very muddy and soaking-wet trip to the shore of the Lake watching the canine jump in and out of the water like a spawning salmon we all decided to call it a day. Once home we bathed the poor pup, soon settling into the sofa with our Chocolate Easter Eggs and a movie. Saturday Mr. Warehouse and I had planned to go and do some shopping but was hindered slightly by the fact that ever since the previous evening, Mr. Warehouse had been suffering from a tight chest and had barely slept throughout the night. Worried I knew it was an Asthma attack and begged him just to go to a doctors, albeit in vain. After picking up an inhaler we headed out, and returned later than evening from a hard days shopping and browsing to a wonderful Chinese take-away and a chance to meet Mr. Warehouse's Mom's new fella, whom seems nice and friendly, just what she needs, I think!
Yesterday however was an experience, I have to say. Mr. Warehouse and I had been invited to what was in some way a Christening but was called a "Dedication" meaning that the child would be promised to god and when it was finally old enough to make it's own decision then it could choose whether to be baptised or not. In all fairness I think its a cracking (Easter Reference number two) idea. As a Christian I was brought up with my Grandparents teaching me about the ways of the lord, learning things at Sunday Schools and trips to Church when I stayed at my Nanna and Grandads the occasional weekend my parents wanted some "adult time" away from the kids, and I must say that in all the years I had gone to and been a rather insignificant member of the congregation, albeit a part nevertheless, I had always questioned and doubted the things I had been told were gospel.
I think that in any respects of religion the science and fact of the twenty-first century outweighs the fables and folklore surrounding them. It is physically, not to mention completely inconceivable to part sea's, turn water into wine and give birth to the son of god whilst claiming to be a virgin still. I have tried turn water into wine, many times, and I have failed on all accounts. Maybe this is because I am not Jesus or god himself. Or maybe it is because they are simple tales to help people who were struggling in a time of upheaval, war and dictatorship. I am positive that like Syria, Iraq and other places in the middle east today, Jerusalem in year dot was not a nice place either. Tales and stories about a couple who was born of humble beginnings becoming the adoptive parents to the saviour of all mankind was something of fairytales. Miracles and adventures to follow the Bible, whilst some of it may be truthful of the time, the majority, in my eyes at least is fiction. I love the ideas that thousands of people can be fed by just a loaf of bread and a couple of fish or that out of everything endured somebody can rise from the dead but these seem to me ancient explanations for very simple life events.
A man is murdered on a cross and buried in a tomb with a large boulder obstructing the entrance. In the days that follow the body of Christ is nowhere to be found and it is said he has risen again to help all of humanity. Question is science may have an explanation for this. In my mind it is plausible, and in maybe a small case possible, that the boulder was moved due to a shift in the ground such as an earthquake or tremor or even moved by hand. This in turn would open up the cave/tomb to thieves and looters of the time. I mean what was stopping someone getting rid of Jesus' corpse and posing as the Christ Almighty in order to gain fame and notoriety. God was maker of all so why did he not just create more saviours of the world once the only one he ceased existence.
For example, I went to a funeral last year and all it seemed to be was God this and Jesus that. The focus I feel should be on the person in the box not a man who no-one has really seen. A funeral should be about mourning and celebrating a person and who they were and what they meant to people. A wedding should be about love and the coming together of two people with their families in order to make way for more family members in a stable home with a good, steady upbringing. A christening should be the celebration and joyful beginnings of a child's life. All these events that are held in the presence of the lord, usually in God's house should be about the here and now as well as the future to come, not about the past and how the moment and moments to come would never have happened if it weren't for the sacrificing of God's only son. Now don't get me wrong, I love the idea of a church wedding in the British sunshine and weekly trips on a Sunday morning to see friends and family as well as investing time into the community, but why can't you do that without Religion. Sing songs that are in the charts and that we all know the beat to, talk about issues in the local area that affect real people and praise the good of the world that we live in whilst making a difference to those to home. A church of people and a Religion of Community Spirit.
Its not fact obviously but in my opinion the Christian religion, at least, is something worth questioning with the information, fact and science we know now. Truth is we will never know if the story of Easter is true, at least by all Christian accounts any way. Its a controversial opinion yes, and one you may disagree with but nevertheless an opinion I have. All I know is that the church I visited with friends and family on Sunday was not as heavy as some others I have attended and as a self-styled 'community church' it was as friendly and inviting as it possibly could be. Indeed, as I looked around sceptically at the church-goers on that bright Sunday morning I saw hope and positivity. Old people that had come and donated their time and money towards something they believed in, a cause for helping others as well as an excuse to get out of the house once a week and meet up with some old faces over a cuppa and a Rich Tea. In their wrinkles I saw lives that had been lived fully, tragedy and joy endured and not all in equal measures. They were living for something. People from all walks in life, old and young, disabled and abled, poor and well-off - This is what they believed in and had faith with someone from a story book written hundreds of years ago. But most of all it made them happy. As the singing came to a close and the ceremony over with I noted the peacefully nature of the place and the smiles and grins on the faces of all who left. It then dawned on me as I looked over at the children's reading books in the corner - Religion is no different than Cinderella or Snow White. Difference is that whether you are a follower of it or not, without it the world would be a very, very different place indeed ...
'Til next time, Love A.Lou xx
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