LDN

I do realise this post is a bit late, I'm not quite sure why it's taken me so long to write it! A few weeks ago we were back down in London to see the Prof and managed to tie it in with my Willow Foundation (http://www.willowfoundation.org.uk/Home) weekend. I chose to take Mum, Rona, Teenie and Ruth to a show (Wicked, obvs) and we managed to do a lot of other things!

On Friday morning, Mum and I got a very early flight to London and made our way once more to Charing Cross Hospital. It always feels very strange going back there, but in a familiar way. I don't really have happy memories of that hospital so it's never much fun going back. Anywho, we went in to see the Prof and were chatting away as normal. He brought up my MRIs from August and April to compare and see if there's been any change. There was a bit of a fright when he noticed quite a lot of fluid in my back. He quickly ran down to Radiology (after mentioning getting an ultra sound and PET scan) so I obviously started to freak out. He was away for about 20 minutes (longest 20 minutes ever) but came back smiling saying everything was OK. The word 'Phew' does not begin to cover the relief. Apparently I have 're-feeding syndrome' which is quite common in patients who have gone through High Dose chemo. Basically, you don't eat for a month, then you come out of hospital and stuff your face which then causes fluid in the back.. I don't understand the logistics of it but I'd rather have this than anything else! My blood levels (well, magnesium) are still a bit all over the place so he is apprehensive to have my operation before they stabilise. He has delayed this until the New Year which I am totally fine with. After seeing the Prof, I then went to see another specialist who has sent me for a gazillion blood tests which will be repeated in another six months.

After a horrible panic in the morning, Mum and I were feeling pretty drained so we headed to the hotel. I've never really stayed in a swanky hotel before, but this one was well swanky! So nice. Teenie, Rona and Ruth came later on in the afternoon and we then got ready for a walk to Buckingham Palace, dinner (with Daphne!) and The Wizard of Oz!

I really didn't have high hopes for The Wizard of Oz, but I was pleasantly surprised. Most folk will know, I do adore musicals, but for some reason have never thought of The Wizard of Oz as one.. Yeah, that sounds daft but the songs aren't really that memorable are they? Well, they clearly are memorable as I was singing along (probs wasn't supposed to be) during the whole thing.

The next morning, we set off early as Ruth had booked us a manicure with Wah Nails (http://wah-nails.com/). Being a huge nail polish/nail art/nail anything fan, I was pretty darn excited. My nails are now (finally) growing with no ridges on them so this was perfect timing to get them done.

We then popped along to Liberty's (YAS) and to some of our favourite make up haunts. After all this, it was then time to be tourists again and we went on the London Eye (well, those of us who were BRAVE enough) and a wee river boat. We've been to London so many times and never done this so we were rather excited!

One of Teenie's great snaps from the boat... Oh, it was raining.

We were only about a ten minute walk from the hotel so decided to walk... STUPID IDEA. It started to pour. Oh well. We got back, chucked on more make up and some dresses and were ready for Wicked! We met Twee for some dim sum before which was lovely.

Ali got me obsessed with Wicked years ago when we worked in a hotel one summer. So, it is all her fault I love it so much! This was my third time seeing it but I was so excited for the rest to go as I have talked about it SO MUCH. Third time is definitely a charm as it did not disappoint - we all loved it. I'm so happy everyone else enjoyed it and we were singing the songs all the way home.

We also managed to fit in the Chanel exhibition at Harrods (if you can go, do. It's amazing - a HUGE 2.55 bag! The dream), macarons at Laduree, lunch in Covent Garden and the big Topshop. All in all, an amazing weekend.

As you can see, I am still carrying my beloved Mulbers everywhere. I think this bag has travelled everywhere with me this past year. I am not sure if I have told the story of when/how I got it on this blog, if not, I have probably told you to your face (as I have bored everyone with it). This is the moment I opened the beautiful net-a-porter box to find it.. Best. Present. Ever. Thanks Dad :)

Not the most flattering angle for me, but I feel happy when I look at it!

I have been doing a lot more recently and definitely building up my strength and confidence. I am now more than six months out of High Dose chemo and I can't even begin to describe how much better I feel. The prof did stress that is is gradual but I'm feeling great! OK, I will stop now - this has been long! Congrats if you got this long.

Something else I want to say..

MY HAIR IS GETTING SOOOOOOOOOOOOOO CURLY!!!

That's all.

Everybody loves a Ceilidh

Well Hi there! It has been a while. I thought I should post a wee update of how the Ceilidh went last Saturday. The day was rather stressful getting everything organised but it seemed to go pretty well! About 200 people showed up and we made over £3,500 for the Teenage Cancer Trust so I was VERY happy with that. This money is going towards the new centre being built in Edinburgh. Everybody that came was on such good form and the dancing was a hoot. Thanks so much everybody for coming and for going for it on the dancefloor! Here are some snaps to show how well it went..

Being shown how to work the sound..

This was near the end - I think they were rather tired!

Clearly, Dad and Uncle James were having a blast. 

I have SO many people to thank for helping me put this together. Firstly, both of the bands. The Ceilidh band came all the way from Inverness and they were amazing. Four very talented young musicians who were so keen to help and helped the evening go so well! The other music for the night was provided by my chum Andy's band, Hidden Agenda (http://www.hiddenagenda.info/). I think everyone can agree that they were awesome - most folk had a dance at some point (particularly Jamie and Gordon..)! Next, we have 'Scrumptious' who made the wonderful cupcakes that you can see. Thank you SO MUCH girls for doing that, the cupcakes were amazing! We had a HUGE raffle (which was a bit stressful at the time, but oh well!) and I was so happy so many wonderful companies contributed towards this. There is a list of the raffle prizes on the website (maireadsceilidh.co.uk). Lastly, I have so many of my friends who I want to thank... Bex, Will, Frances, Louise - you guys were so helpful with getting things for me and bringing things that I forgot (ie a moneybox, table cloths, tealights, a top hat etc..). Alice, for driving the band to and from Inverness - you must have been knackered so thanks! Lynsey (and your Dad for piping!), thanks for coming early to help set up and for taking wonderful pictures. It's so lovely to have made a great friend through this TCT stuff. Stef and Tom, you guys have been great. After a totally crap year you both were so keen and supportive throughout it all. Ally, thanks for doing the 'guy' stuff which all of us girls were pretty useless at! Jamie, for designing the website and doing all the 'techy' things! My (very large) family for doing whatever I asked of them! Mum, Teenie and Claire for being around all day and pitching in wherever they needed to be, Dad, Uncle James and Auntie Winnie for being 'on the money', Rona for being a 'raffler' and the rest for being so incredibly supportive. Last, and by no means least, is my right hand woman Ruth. She has gone above and beyond the call of a best friend (not just on Saturday) and I would be totally lost without her. The wee presentation she sorted for me at the Ceilidh just proves how thoughtful and kind she is. Saturday wouldn't have been possible without everything she did to help so, thank you Ruthie. 

I have definitely missed people/roles/things/no idea what else out but I really hope everyone knows how grateful I am for the support and help that they gave whilst I was organising the Ceilidh. It was so great to see so many familiar faces and it was amazing how much was raised. 

I've been rather busy these past few weeks but shall leave it here for now. I hope everyone has a lovely weekend. 

We love a photogenic horse

Yesterday we all went off to Achnasheen to celebrate Auntie Mina's and Uncle Alastair's 50th Wedding Anniversary. Most of the family were there which was lovely. Unfortunately, James couldn't make it as his back has become worse. The pain hasn't been improving so sitting in a car would be a nightmare for him. He was really missed though and felt very odd without him there. As always, a lot of pictures were taken and I will pop some here to show you all.

The kids table...

Granny and I. I am crouching quite a bit here..

There were a few random Shetland Ponies around the hotel.. I think this picture is my favourite.

I know this looks like I've put loads of pictures up of the same thing but it was rather funny.. The pony (which we named Toby) decided to enter our family picture and it took quite a while to get rid of him.. It was a total lol though.

This is the only one Dad made it into..

Toby then decided he wanted to come into the hotel.. He only made it to the porch.

It was so nice to see the extended family, a lot of whom I've not been able to see this past year. Everyone has been so kind to me and it was great to catch up.

We've had a lovely time up north and are going to Edinburgh tomorrow to celebrate Auntie Dianne's birthday. On Friday, Mum, Granny and I went to Anta and then to Dornoch - two of my favourite places!

On Friday night when Teenie arrived we popped into Tain for dinner. It was delish!

One last thing.. As I've mentioned previously, Granny lives in 'Hill of Fearn'. This sign is sometimes changed to 'Hill of Fear' and as we were driving past on Friday night someone had changed it! YAS! I was absolutely overjoyed and made Dad stop the car so we could get a snap of this momentous occasion. It was rather awkward to park there as it is at the side of a country road so we tried to be quick. It took Mum a while to take the picture and Dad was getting rather impatient.. My heels were sinking into the grass and there were spiders EVERYWHERE. After about ten minutes, the flash went and we hopped back into the car and started driving off. However, after all that, the only picture we ended up with was this.. THANKS MUM.

OK, that was a really picture heavy post and rather dull... Soz! Anywho, I'm off to pack my bag for tomorrow. Night all.