Reasons to be Cheerful: Marching onwards #R2BC

Thanks everyone who joined in last week sorry if I haven't read and commented on everyone's post yet... I look forward to reading and sharing more of your happy posts this week.

1) Mother's Day treats

My children started Mother's Day well with breakfast in bed and lots of goodies:

2) Proud Mummy

My daughter and I were interviewed by BBC Radio Cumbria about the dangers of dog fouling due to her eye being damaged from it:

Post by BBC Radio Cumbria.

3) Community Spirit

My online photo community of Blipfoto has been feeling threatened this week after the company went into liquidation. All of us took part in a #BlipfotoForever meme to try and share a hug with our fellow blippers:

Please join us and share your happiness and grab the badge if you would like it:

  <center> <a href="http://beckywilloughby.blogspot.co.uk/" target="_blank"><img border="0" alt="Reasons to be Cheerful" src="http://i1149.photobucket.com/albums/o585/LakesMum/6894b786-0238-4650-8556-714fdbb64aa2_zpsef0827cd.jpg"/></a></center>

#CharityTuesday: Dogs' Trust Poop Scoop Week

 

Reasons to be Cheerful XXXX ( #R2BC )

Here are this week's reasons to smile! 


1) 40 entries!


Wow hard to believe that I have joined in 40 times to this lovely blog hop. So thanks to Michelle for this brilliant idea which helps me to focus on the positive things in my life!


2) Sunny bank holiday


Well it was mostly sunny apart from Monday afternoon. This meant we were out and about doing things around Kendal and at Brockhole and even managed a BBQ! It all seems a distant dream now the rain has returned:

3) Anti dog fouling campaigning


Regular readers will know that my family are very keen to reduce dog fouling following the effect it has had on my daughter. It has been a bit of a domino effect from her being featured in the Westmorland Gazette after writing to the editor. This was then picked up the North West Evening Mail as part of their month long campaign. 


She was also spotted by StreetKleen who are a social enterprise looking to turn dog mess into a a fuel and therefore helping the environment in a double way. The founder Gary Downie wants us to go to Flintshire for a visit and press conference to use my daughter as an example of why people should scoop the poop! He has also put us in touch with a Canadian documentary team who are looking for real cases of children effected by dog poo. My daughter is excited at the thought of being famous so hope it all comes together...

4) Bliptastic


Because of my 730 blips my details were passed to local newspapers. Today I was contacted by the Westmorland Gazette for an interview and they are going to photograph me next week! Hopefully I'll be getting my own 15 minutes of fame for taking my daily photographs like today's rather wet one:

Reasons to be Cheerful XXXV ( #R2BC )

Not just smiling this week but I do believe that I was jumping with joy around the kitchen this morning and this is why:

1) Work

I had an interview at a local secondary school yesterday to be a receptionist and they rang and offered me the job this morning! Having not had a paid job for two years this was fantastic news. Its a perfect position for me as it uses many of the skills I acquired in my 6 years in my previous job. Being in a school it is term time only and is for 20 hours so I can still do everything else I need to do as a mum!

2) Diet

I was worried that another week of being unable to properly exercise wouldn't make a great result on the scales. It seems that tracking my intake on www.myfitnesspal.com has kept me in control as I have lost 2 pounds this week which is the maximum healthy weight loss. Onwards and downwards from here I hope!

3) Proud Mummy

My daughter has continued her anti dog fouling campaign by contacting the local paper. They interviewed her on the phone and are sending a photographer round tomorrow so she can feature in the paper next week!

My son is still so excited about reading and loves sharing his new skill with everyone:

Please check out the linky:

Reasons to be Cheerful XXXIV ( #R2BC )

I am feeling very positive at the moment so looking forward to sharing everyone else's R2BC this week!

1) Getting on my soap box

I had a chance to talk live on BBC Radio Cumbria about the impact of toxocarra on my daughter's life as part of a debate on dog fouling. Anything I can do to make people aware of the potential devastating impact of not clearing up after their dog is a good thing. There is more about this on yesterday's post.

2) The great Lake District countryside

It was a marvellous weekend to get out hiking up the fells. I wrote a long piece about Loughrigg on Saturday and being able to be out of doors enjoying the wonderful landscape and stunning views whilst hiking with the family is definitely a top reason to be cheerful.

OK I just can't resist re-using this one again!

I don't anyone could fail to get a smile on their face walking along the banks of Grasmere on a perfect winter's day.

3) Family

My granny has moved to Kendal from Appleby to she is now really close by and I can visit her much more easily. Hopefully my children will also have more time to get to know their last remaining great granny.

4) Me

I've been good again this week and lost another 2 lbs making a total of 7 lb this year and an overall 1 stone 10 lb since I started at Rosemary Conley. This time I am determined to stay focussed and continue losing weight steadily and not have the yo-yo effect I had last year! The carrot of a 2 stone certificate for losing the next 4 lbs is a great incentive to look forward to.

Please go and see the other lovely people on the linky:

#TheGallery: Eyes

When I found out that this week's gallery was eyes there was only one choice for me:

The eye belongs to my 8 year old daughter and it hides a secret. Her eye was damaged by toxocarra from dog or fox poo and she can't see properly. She wrote about it on her own blog My Life. Not surprisingly we are ardent anti dog fouling campaigners in our house and endorse the Keep Britain Tidy campaign:

To get yours go to: http://www.keepbritaintidy.org/

For more gallery pics click on the logo at the top of the page