What happened to Snapshot Sunday?

Hello again,

Firstly, let me start by saying I'm sorry for not posting in the week and for posting my snapshot Sunday late! I did warn you that last week was going to be a busy one -  and I wasn't wrong! By the time I got home I was absolutely shattered and I really cant get away with a half arsed attempt at posting such a fun week - nor do I want to! I fully intended to upload on Monday but I had my visitor here still and I've used the last couple of days as a catch up...mainly on sleep.

So here's my Snapshot Sunday post From my week last week. 10th - 16th April 2017

On Monday, I was feeling really rough. I got out of bed early on and decided that i'd be more use tucked up back in bed and set my alarm to wake me up to take the car in for it's MOT then come straight back. I picked up a bit after the fresh air and cool waiting room at the test centre but it wasn't a productive day. I took a snap shot of the weather forecast for the rest of the week for Derby (Our planned destination for the weekend).

Tuesday was very different from Monday. It was probably the most packed out day I've had in a long time! It was house prep day for our guest arriving as I was going to be staying away for the rest of the week so had to have the house nice for when I went away. I left the hoovering for Dan but pretty much managed a lot by myself this time. Charlotte, one of my closest friends came for a visit in the afternoon - she was back from uni for the Easter break and it was such a welcome visit. We sat and critiqued the new Disney Beauty and the Beast, chatted about uni life and home life and had a general catch up. I love her uni stories. The pics and videos she showed me had me howling with laughter - (they are not suitable to be shared on the internet!)

So, the little visit on Tuesday got the excited gears going ready for Wednesday... trip day! Charlotte picked me up and dropped me at the station and I was off and on my way to Cambridge in no time! The train from Nottingham to Peterborough wasn't the most pleasant purely because the 'Clampits' who had previously sat where I had got my reservation had decided to leave all of their rubbish for me to tidy away, including spilt milk - I didn't cry over it! (Y'know, the old saying: don't cry over spilt milk).  Anyway, the reason for my trip was that one of my besties was performing in the Full Monty at the ADC theatre and it was her first character part rather than being in the chorus. I knew nothing about the role she was playing as she wanted it to be a surprise for us - and that it was! Going to her house on Wednesday meant I got to have a bit of 'down time' before seeing the show on Thursday and spend some time with my friends and my god daughter... who can now say my name and is more super cute than ever! As Laura was performing on Wednesday I had a play date at the park and then got to put the little one in her cot at bedtime! Precious moments!

On Thursday we had a relaxed day in Cambridge. Serena arrived in the evening not long after Laura had left for the theatre and after a bit of tea we headed out to take our seats in the (rather chilly) auditorium. Row C - Nice and close so Laura (who was playing Estelle - the 'bit on the side' of the main character) could hear us cheering her at the end (we always aim to cheer the loudest for our friend). It was the best I have ever seen Laura perform! The show had me and Serena laughing out loud and cry laughing at each other at parts too.

Friday was the day Serena and I travelled back to Mansfield. We had a song fest in the car with everything from the Lion King to PJ and Duncan! Yes, we know how to have the best carpool karaoke! We were tired and a little delirious *we always are when we are together* but we were so ready for our weekend adventure to the British Touring Car Championship Round two at my home circuit - Donington Park!

Saturday: We woke up and had to get busy getting ready straight away - my worst kind of morning but it was softened by the sound of "hello, wheres Aseena?" That's my nephews way of saying Serena. He was desperate to come and see her! Little did he know that he was joining us on the adventure to the day at the track. When he found out it was full on excitement. On the whole it was a pretty uneventful day... Until the last Ginetta race where there was a rather large crash in front of where we were sitting resulting in a very poorly looking car! Driver okay though! It's amazing how safe these cars are made for the drivers!

Sunday - RACE DAY! It was an even earlier start today. The racing was fast, slippy and rain added to the mix made it more dangerous! We took a beach tent with us for shelter from the elements but for some reason we didn't use it until the end of the day! It was definitely an adrenaline filled day and at times quite difficult to watch! I wont go into too much detail here but we saw one of the worst crashes that I've ever seen... it brought it home that these are real cars, and real people driving them! Occasionally things go wrong and bad things happen. Unfortunately this was one of those days!

My next post will be on Friday *21st April*

Again, sorry this is late!

My surprise at the BTCC

Hello!

In my last blog post I ended with a promise that I would write about a surprise that was deliberately leaked to me just before we went to see the touring car championships at Oulton Park in Cheshire.

Before I tell you about the surprise I will tell you a little bit about my interest in motorsport (but mainly the BTCC). Firstly I am a bit of an adrenaline junkie, I love near enough anything fast, high and a little bit dangerous as long as it doesn't involve breaking any law. I don't have the chance to experience fast first hand since my illness was diagnosed but it doesn't stop me from loving the sounds, sights and smells (and occasionally the ground shake) from fast things.

Touring cars is my most recent interest really, well motorsport as a whole. Dan is really interested in all things car and he has been to see the touring car championships a few times at our most local track which is Donnington. We decided after my first live experience of motor racing earlier this year (as in not watching on TV) that it was actually quite a good way for us to spend a day together with a picnic and just chill out enjoying the atmosphere and buzz around the event. It's quite hard for me to explain really. At Donnington, my first time, we got a brill spot with a big screen opposite so we saw the TV coverage for the parts of the track that we couldn't actually physically see there. I guess it's like watching a music concert DVD, it's always better to be there in the audience than to be watching it at home! The fresh air also does me some good.

My cousin (confusingly also called Dan) is someone who from being very small I have been close to. There was a huge gap where we didn't see each other for one reason or another (mainly distance as he has always lived in Dorset and I was brought up in Nottinghamshire). Anyway, Dan (husband) and I had a holiday to Dorset not long after we got together which meant that I got to see a lot of the family that I hadn't seen for a long time and Dan (cousin) was one of those people! He's always been into cars, bikes and anything that made his hands oily and dirty! He's now a mechanic (no surprise there) and he's also a Marshall at the BTCC! He has a friend in the west surrey racing ebay motors team and when he found out that (hubby) Dan and I were going to Oulton Park, he managed to get us a garage tour and meet and greet with the drivers. My Dan let me read the message thread from cousin Dan which explained it all! The words he wrote really touched me and my Dan timed it perfectly because I was worried that I was going to be too sick to actually enjoy any of the races! I double checked that all of my meds were packed just because I knew I wasn't "tip - top". When I first saw the paddock at I was like "that's so cool" but when we actually got to the garage and met "little Pete" as he was refered to on the ITV4 coverage I honestly felt like a VIP! There we were having our bags taken off us and being offered drinks, taken around the garage, looking around and touching the cars and then meeting the drivers as if they knew us - well, they kind of did - they had been told about me before I even got there!!! It was insane! I got really weepy when my cousin messaged me with "have you had a good morning then?" I know that to some people it wouldn't be a big deal but for me and (husband) Dan it was just such a lovely thought. It came out of the blue and it is something that I treasure so much.

The whole day was fantastic and I just feel so blessed that I have the best people in my life that drag me through the worst of times even when they aren't always aware of how bad it actually is.

If you want to know the drivers we met then you can search for Colin Turkinton, Rob Collard and Nick Foster BTCC.

Well, can you believe it? Two blogs in one day? I'm going to get working on the getting to know me tag next... I don't know when that will be... It will be soon!

Until next time,

Toodles Noodles :)

Han.xx