Reasons to be Cheerful: Week 13 #R2BC

Clare is still looking after the linky over at Seasider in the City so please have a look and say hello! Meanwhile here are my reasons to be cheerful this week:

1) Go me!

I haven't had one of these for months so I am so pleased:

All the hard work of running and dropping the calories paid off with a 3 lb loss. Now I just  need to watch out in the school holidays that it doesn't creep back on again... But that leads me on to:

2) School Holidays

We all broke up today and its nice to think we have just over 2 weeks with no school. Hoping to mix up chilling, getting out and about and house sorting! Watch this space for what we get up to.

3) Running

I am well into week 8 and its 28 minutes at a time! Funnily enough the first time I did this in the snow I just managed it but today I set off too fast on first half and struggled. Its fab to be going twice around the loop now and I just hope that I can squeeze in my 3 runs a week whilst kids off school. It does help on sunny days when I get views like this:

4) Walk in her shoes

I may have finished the challenge a while back but my local paper has only just put me in the news:

Its not too late to donate to help Care International provide safe drinking water to more villages.

Why are you smiling this week?

Reasons to be Cheerful Week 11 #R2BC

Joining in again this week with Claire at Seasider in the City back in takeover mode! So lets see what's made me smile this week...
1) Running
I've been back on track and managed to run 20 minutes without stopping on Friday! 
Whoop! Just need to keep up the training when life doesn't get in the way!
2) Walking in her shoes
I managed to complete the challenge despite all the weather conditions being against me. It was an amazing challenge to fit into a busy life that is built around the ability to just jump in a car to get everywhere on time! No wonder those girls don't have time to have an education or work when they spend so much time collecting water. If you want to help change this then donate via my Just Giving page. I couldn't have done it without my children who walked in rain and snow with me.
3) Proud Mummy
My daughter came home with a certificate praising her independent maths work and original literacy work at school. Its always fantastic to know that my children are doing well at school and being recognised for their efforts.
Both children also did me proud on Saturday selling cakes to our friends in aid of cancer research:

4) Proud of Me
For the first time for about 25 years I am a qualified first aider! Its been an interesting 3 days with theory and hands on practicals. We had quite a lot of laughs on the way too as we learnt how to deal with lots of life threatening situations and how to do cope with a range of injuries. Now I just hope that I don't have to use some of those more serious skills in action but I'm confident I can if I need to.

iamtired.com

Sometimes you really know you have been overdoing things when you want to go to bed before your children! Its been an incredible couple of weeks but think I am approaching burn out..

We have enjoyed some fantastic days out as a family: Kendal Festival of Food, a trip to Manchester Museum of Science and Industry, walking more as a family and on my own in all weathers.  These have all been fabulous but they all take out a lot of energy. An almost full day out and about on Mother's Day (as part of our 5 miles that day) was fun but knackering too:

On top of that I am increasing my training runs for the Star Walk 10 k run which I am really enjoying but its stretching my endurance and stamina. Having that 30 minutes or so of being out on my own on the roads (albeit with friendly faces to wave at en route) is a lovely break in my day though!

This week my back up childcare plan and football class takers have been away so I have been doing everything with both children in tow. Its been rushing everywhere as the walking has reduced the gaps between events. 

Today I started a 3 day first aid course for work which is a full day instead of my usual half day. So we are all having to leave the house 15 minutes earlier than normal so that my children can be dropped off to be taken to school. 

Housework is being kept to a minimum due to lack of time and energy but of course its not being done by anyone else so I need to catch up soon! I am glad I did the charity walk but next time I need to do it when the rest of my life is a lot less manic... Right now I am only still up as I've only been able to out the washing machine on at about 8:30 so I have to wait for it to finish to hang it up to dry!

I am so looking forward to my Saturday lie in and I am not doing anything outside the home but I will have to catch up on all that housework.... Do you ever feel like you have taken on too much?

Walking in a winter wonderland!

Its been a beautiful but tough day for my final Walking in her shoes challenge today! In some ways walking was nicer than driving on slippery roads but boy was it oh so cold.... Here is the photo diary of today's walking:

Waking up to snow!

Up School Lane

Across Barley Bridge past the weir

Down the lane

Through the gate

Along the bank of the River Kent 

Water above the weir is frozen.. 

But downstream its sparkling in the sun

Snow covered war memorial whilst walking to do my chores

Over the River Kent

Past the old Castle Dairy - now a restaurant

The view before I stepped in the door at work...

Mini blizzard to go home

Over Dockray Iron Bridge

Return school run not so fun!

Reward for completing the challenge!

If you would like to make a donation to Care International UK to help women in the third world have easier lives then please visit my Just Giving page. This has been a great challenge for me but those women walking is a matter of life and death.

#CountryKids Walking in her shoes

With me doing my walking in her shoes challenge it's meant that by necessity my children are doing more walking too! Going to a village school it's nice to be able to walk down the Main Street in the morning (as long as we get out of the house in time!). We are lucky that its just inside the Lake District National Park so we get lovely views of the fells as we go.

There are plenty of snowdrops at the minute:

 

We can walk down lanes which have very few cars on:

 

Very close to the school is the village meadow which sometimes ahead sheep in during lambing season:

The walks are giving us time to talk about the girls in Africa who walk for clean water and not for fun.

Reasons to be Cheerful: Week 10 #R2BC

Michelle is hosting again this week so pop over to her blog to see what's up and read about her charity work! I'm currently feeling like I have zero energy so need to boost myself by writing positive things...
1) Couch to 5k programme
After a couple of weeks off due to holidays/lack of time I'm now seeing great improvements having stuck at it. Today I had to do 2 lots of 8 minute non-stop runs as part of the podcast. I impressed myself by finding it not too hard! The 10 k I need for my charity run seems a long way a way still but with generous donations being given I have to keep on trying... I am amazed at how much I am enjoying the running and I get plenty of encouragement on my runs from friends and strangers alike. And who wouldn't want to run in places like this:

2) Walk in her shoes

When I first signed up to the walk in her shoes challenge I thought it would be fairly simple to fit 10,000 steps into my every day life. We leaving for school earlier so that I can walk the children the last 3/4 mile and I am walking to work which is all good stuff. However our lives are so busy that sometimes its hard to fit it all in - no wonder these girls and women have no time to go to school or get work! For me its mostly about getting fitter and being out in the fresh air and its for fun. Just glad I'm raising awareness as well as some much needed funds to improve water supplies.  

3) My weight

After a post holiday blip my weight was back down again this week. I am exercising lots but need to watch what I eat.... I would just so like to reach that elusive 2 stone award that I never seem to manage to reach!

What is making you smile this week?

 

Care International: Walk in her shoes

Sponsored Post

I was very lucky to receive a free pair of FitFlops as part of the Peer Index campaign to promote Care International's Walk in her shoes campaign.  They want to highlight how far girls and women in developing nations walk every day just for their essentials. It's scary to think they walk an average of 6km a day just to get water!

They are asking people to sign up to walk 10,000 steps a day for one week in March and donate £15 to help Care International put in boreholes so that women don't have to walk so far. I have signed up so as soon as my pedometer arrives I will do my best to make that 10,000 step target for a week. Would you like to join me?

This is my Just Giving page if you want to sponsor me!

Here are some reasons to join in from the Care International site:

Ayanna from Ethiopia is just 14 years old, yet every day she gets up before dawn to embark on 6 hour trek to fetch water so her family can survive. It means she has little time for school and the water she collects is so dirty it could kill her.

Shockingly she covers 22 km daily. That’s more than half a marathon.

"There is always a feeling of pain," she states simply.

Please help us to raise enough money to build 22 boreholes in South Ethiopia where Ayanna lives. You will help support Ayanna and girls just like her to have safe water, and give them time to attend school and live their childhoods.

Water is scarce in the arid valley in Niger, Africa, where Hadiza lives. Every day she and other women endured a gruelling 9 km trip to fetch water for their families, and her health suffered.

"For 10 years I was responsible for taking two trips to the pools per day, bringing 40 litres of water. It was impossible for the women to do any other activity."

But thanks to you, CARE helped provide a water source just 20 metres from her home. Hadiza can now drink and cook safely, wash her clothes, and even has time to make and sell straw hats to earn money for her family.