I have too many shoes

The IN Thing for Cancer Research is a fab way to have a girl's night and raise money for the charity. November's one of those months when its quiet, the weather can be a bit pants and you really need to be saving for Christmas.  So instead of struggling with the cold weather and spending lots of money on cocktails, why not slip on your pjs, put on a face mask and have a party indoors with your friends while raising money. I'm having a party with my family late November where we'll be wearing PJ's, having manicures, playing games and running quizzes and raffles so we can put our money in the charity pot rather than spending it at a bar. We're in, are you?

Jimmy Valentine Today marks the fourth anniversary of my dad's death from lung cancer.  I can't believe its been four years and I miss him terribly especially at this time of the year.  There's many a time I'd finish work and sit in the back garden having a cold beer while discussing how the day had been.  Sometimes you don't realise what joy the simple things in life can be. I inherited his car and I drive it every day with a pair of his glasses on the dashboard.  We've even managed to inherit his dog! Harvey has become our unofficial lodger over the past few years.  It's not hard to remember the good times whether it was watching Hammer Horror films on a Friday night after the pub or the year we decided to make homemade red wine and spent a night bottling the wine while enjoying numerous amounts of the stuff or the last family holiday we had together and spent the afternoon in the pool where it felt like we were kids again. He was well liked, worke...

For those of you who've been following my blog will be aware, my younger sister Tara has undergone treatment for cancer and we are heading towards the 2nd annual check before before the five year mark when she gets the all clear.  She contacted Jo's Trust , the cancer charity to see if she could share her personal story.  As a result she's just been interviewed by The Sun as part of a feature on Jade Goody and it was published today.  It supports giving the charity and cervical cancer awareness much-needed publicity.  No words can describe how proud am I xx

I was feeling a bit melancholy today, the year has passed so quickly yet so much has happened. You sometimes forget or put to the back of your mind significant or painful memories. I'm not sure what triggered the memory or why even I had put it to the back of my mind. This time last year, one of my siblings was diagnosed with an aggressive form of cervical cancer. It was a few weeks until an operation was to be done to see what treatments could be undertaken and life where possible, was continuing normally for the children. There was one night, when we were preparing presents for one of the children when she cried and said 'I don't even know if I will be here this time next year.' What could I have said to console her, I felt helpless. It had been less than two years since my father died, yet cancer was the unwelcome visitor to our family again. Luckily for us, and I know this doesn't happen to everyone, the doctor was able to stop the cancer with an operatio...