Coming together

Well I am nearly at the end of Q1 of 1,000,000 pence and, true to form, have started many projects but am yet to complete any:

- The marathon is underway (5 weeks yesterday I will HOPEFULLY - and knee permitting - be proudly wearing my medal)
- Charity ball - venue about to be booked and 2 auction prizes confirmed (a Porsche racing day and a gorgeous sequined shrug) but still SOOOOOOOOOO much to do before September
- TMP has talent - booked but needs marketing!
- Marine challenge - 10 idiots team buddies have agreed to take place just need to book us in for our October mud fest!
- London 10K - keep talking about doing it, need to book it up
- Quiz night - keep talking about it but little more
- Penny pots - with £100 in pennies on my desk at home this is a great fundraising scheme.... just to get around to "bagging" it all up and banking it

My growing to do list is massive and growing and doesn't even begin to include my mummy duties. To be honest I don't ever need to write these down. Not because I am a perfect mummy; far from it. I just have a 7 year old who will quite innocently highlight my mummy faux pas, usually in public; "Mummy why didn't you make my bed today?"! However I do recognise that my to do list gives me real significance and makes me feel needed - I know totally non-sensical and I often wonder if I am alone in this odd attitude?


Anyway I digress. I like to think that I have now reached my "base camp". Foundations are firmly in place but there is still a huge mountain in front to climb. Now I am not by nature a "completer finisher". I am far more comfortable being an "ideas generator" and leaving the organised professional folk to make it happen. So not only is 1,000,000 pence seeing me get fit, but also grow a pair of "see it through" wings. Who knew this pledge would turn into some pretty intense personal development?

And apart from refining my project management skills, one of the most amazing by-products of this journey has been the interactions with people I would otherwise not have had; Playground mum chums sharing their stories and giving a much needed pat on the back along with offers of additional childcare to help me with training. Colleagues and their amazing generosity and interest in my latest running scrape (I am certainly corporate entertainment at the moment). Friends offering huge amounts of support, encouragement and direction. My Mark - for everything he is doing whilst I am not doing it (his to-do list is also growing expedentially), and for not once moaning about me taking on "yet something else". And finally strangers. People I would never have come across had I not undertaken this crazy challenge. People who make my challenge look like a picnic in the park. Who undertake their own challenges with such focus, dedication and without a moan, they are the real heros of the piece. They are the ones who are really battle hard and make a 26.2 mile run  look easy. And one such lady, Claire Grant, is someone I have recently come across via the power of the interweb and PR. Despite a terminal cancer diagnosis she is fighting it with every cell in her body and still finding time and energy to raise £10,000... suddenly my challenge looks pretty easy by comparison! And one of the ways she is raising money is not with paper cups with a cut slit in the lid. Hell no, she is way more talented than I. She is creating these lovely bracelets made with her own fair hands and blinged up with Swarovski crystals.

They are made to order and cost a mere £5 each. Why not choose a red or pink one and wear it with pride. Simply pay via the Virgin Money Giving site here and let Claire know your choice and details via her Facebook page here (and whilst you are there why not like the page as well!). Then sit and wait by the letterbox for your new bling to arrive!