Tuesday 25 June 2013

Chapter 10: It's Not a Race, It's a Marathon...

I failed to mention a good few things that have happened to me recently in last week's blog. First and foremost, I finally completed Race For Life! It was the most memorable experience ever and SUCH an adrenaline rush...
The day started like any other; I got up, got dressed and me, my sister and our boyfriends were on the way... I printed off a picture of Mammy for both of us and we pinned them on our backs so everyone knew who we were running for. Other people had their Race For Life sheets where you could write who you were running for. One thing is for certain, this wasn't just to tell people who they were running for; it was to keep all the runners behind motivated. To run with all of them women was such an inspiration and even though I practised running with my boyfriend, I completed the race in my best time yet. I truly believe it was because I was running amongst all of the women who have experienced the same emotions and heartache that this year has brought to my Mom and our family. A lot of the women had experienced cancer themselves and had overcome it, which just fills me with such positivity and admiration for everyone out there going through the pains and motions of this dreaded illness. I know 5K doesn't seem very much, but it was a big thing for us, me in particular, as I am quite a rubbish runner! But I am going to carry on with it because it has benefited my breathing and I can run much farther than I ever could before. Every time I run now, I am running with my Mammy and all of those women in mind...
Here are a few pictures from the event:

Another thing that happened... I WENT TO SEE ROBBIE WILLIAMS! What an entertainer... Definitely one of the best concerts I have ever been to and a fantastic support from Olly Murs as well. I'm going to be honest, I have never really been an Olly Murs fan, but I can't deny his tunes are catchy! However I have ALWAYS been a Robbie fan. My favourite album of his is "Singing When You're Winning". It is one of very few albums I can listen to the whole way through and never get bored of it. His last song was of course "Angels" - this song holds a lot of significance to me. Although the song was originally intended for a "girlfriend", I think we can all agree this song is applicable to many scenarios. When he sang this, I couldn't control myself - I burst into floods of tears! I know my reasons for it, but like I said, I'm sure you all can relate to it for your own reasons. Here's a little clip of Robbie & Olly together performing, "Kids":


If this doesn't encourage you to see either of them, I don't know what will! Even my boyfriend went out and got Olly's album, and he's into rock music! Luke, you absolute MAINSTREAMER! ;) (personal joke).

Last but not least, I have FINALLY plucked up the courage and got back into acting; I have joined a Murder Mystery team - yes, you heard! I have joined a company local to me and it is all thanks to my friend Anneka. Anneka was in the year below me at school and we performed together doing A-Level Theatre Studies. She went on to study Drama at University and has been acting ever since. So she told me of this Murder Mystery group that she joined a few months back and suggested I come along. So I went along to a "newbie" night last night and have signed up to it! I'm very excited but very nervous at the same time... I haven't done this since school?! The worst part isn't over yet though... once I get my first night's performance out of the way, THEN I can feel a sense of a achievement. It's unlike anything I have ever done before, so I am looking forward to trying something new and as I said in my first blog, I will ACTUALLY be getting into something I would like to do!

As the title states peeps, it's not a race, it's a marathon! I know it has taken a while for me to get into something I am interested in, but it's never too late to follow your dreams!

Much love.
T.

Tuesday 18 June 2013

Chapter 9: Only a Ginger Can Call Another Ginger, Ginger

As many of you know (and can clearly see from my picture) I am ginger and I'm darn proud of it! However it wasn't until recent years I started to appreciate the hair colour I was born with. For a long time I was tormented at school about my hair colour and as I child, I never understood what the big problem was? It's a hair colour? In Primary School I used to get pushed about for it and it wasn't until Year 6 that I started to react to it. One day I just lashed out on a boy who said something about my hair and from then on, other kids wouldn't say anything about it. I thought to myself, "Finally! Now I can just go uabout my day without someone saying something about my hair." Until I went to Secondary School...

When I went to Secondary School, the comments started to get a bit more ridiculous... "Does the curtains match the carpets?!" and "Ginger pubes! Ginger pubes!" - inventive, I know - but the more I reacted to it, the more I realised this spurred people on because they wanted to see how I'd react. I went home and told my parents about it. My Mammy just said, "Next time they ask what colour your pubes are, just say they're black!" So one day I did and it didn't half shut them up! Was quite funny looking back...
There was also an incident where I was queuing for the bus home and some Year 10 guy pushed in front. The angry teenager I was I said, "There's a queue y'know?" He replied, "And what? I'm older than you." I said, "Yeah, and you're an asshole!" and he said, "Well you're just plain ugly." I guess I had a bad reaction coming, but calling me ugly was a big extreme! At the age of 11, I obviously took this to heart and the whole bus journey home seemed to drag. I just wanted to go home and cry. Then, a Year 11 girl started speaking to me and she seemed quite friendly... until one of her other friend came up to me and said, "Oh you're Trish? You're the ugly girl aren't you?" Luckily we arrived at my stop just as he said that. So I got off the bus and cried the whole way home. My Mom knew someone had said something hurtful to me before I even told her. Naturally she was so angry and upset for me and assured me I wasn't ugly and that the people who said it were just jealous. Jealous I thought? How could they be jealous of me? She then went on to tell me a story...
One day when my big sister, Laura, was on the way home from school a similar situation happened. A boy from the back of the bus sat right next to her, put his arm around her and said, "God, you're ugly." She was horrified. She wasn't ugly?! Why would someone just sit next to her and say that to her? Why did he need to embarrass her like that? When Laura was 17, she worked in the bank down the road from us and low and behold, the ass that called her "ugly" walked into the bank - please note, she also did a spot of modelling on the side - and she really hoped she wouldn't have to serve him. Unlucky for him, she did and this is how the conversation went.

Ass: Hi
Laura: Hello can I help you?
Ass: Are you Laura Baxter?
Laura: Yes
Ass: God, you've changed
Laura: Really? Do you remember what you said to me years ago?
Ass: No???
Laura: Oh really? So you don't remember calling me ugly?
Ass: What? No?
Laura: Well you did. But don't worry, I really couldn't care about what you think. Now how can I help you?

Isn't it funny how things stay with you? All of these things I am confessing to you all may not seem like a big deal to many, but it was to me and it was to my sister. Especially at that age.
From about Year 10 onwards, I didn't have much more grief about it. I hate to admit it, but things like this still get to me, just because of how it affected me growing up. Maybe I should blame myself because of the way I reacted to it? My middle sister, Esther, used to get teased as well, but she just ignored it and was pretty much the most popular girl in her year. I think I reacted in an angry way because I hated the way year groups were segregated into rankings of "popularity". First you have the pretty girls who pretty much stick together and walk around as a pack, almost resembling Mean Girls. If any one of them were remotely nice it was a sin to all the others! On day I was upset about what someone said to me and was crying. On of the popular girls saw me and said, "You okay Patsy?" - don't laugh, that was my nickname in school - as soon as one of the other girls saw she was being remotely nice to me, she dragged her away and said, "Ignore her, she's a moody bitch!" I was in Year 7 at the time. How vile can someone be?! I'm quite a stubborn person, and to this day I still hold a grudge against her... I probably always will!
I'm sure you all have stories like this that will stay with you forever and I'm aware that pretty much everyone was bullied at some point during their school years!

I watched "My Big Fat Gypsy Wedding" last year and was shocked to hear what was said during a scene I saw. When a traveller was asked about the birth of his child, he said something along the lines of, "I'm not bothered, just as long as it's not ginger." What the eff?! So what if you're baby is ginger?! As long as it is healthy and happy, surely that's all that matters?! This just goes to show how small minded people are and what I like to call, gingerist. Well, I'd like to take the time to say something to all of you gingerist's out there, GET OVER IT.

Tim Minchin Couldn't have said it better himself:


I would really love to hear some of your own stories from school that will always stay with YOU. Just Facebook, Tweet or reply to this blog is you have a Google account :).

Thanks for reading peeps!
T.

Tuesday 11 June 2013

Chapter 8: The Best Things in Life are Free?

You ever heard the saying, "the customer is always right"? For those of you who work in customer services, you would probably think this is wrong when in actual fact, it is very true. I've mentioned before how I can come across as quite shy and when it comes to confrontation - especially with sales assistants - I am VERY sheepish. However, I have also mentioned how Luke has encouraged me to always raise questions when it concerns getting my moneys worth, e.g. my car insurance last month. After many phone calls and talking to different sales assistants, I finally got the desired insurance I was looking for.
Last weekend myself and Luke went to Liverpool for my friend, Amy's 21st. When we booked this over the phone, the conversation went like this:

Luke: Hi, just wondering how much a room is for this Saturday please?
Receptionist: Okay, a room with a window is (X amount) and a room without is (X amount)

(without a window was more, don't ask me why).

Luke: Okay well I have found them for these prices online and your website said you could beat it by 10%?
Receptionist: Ahh yes, this is only valid with certain websites.
Luke: But your website said you could beat it by 10%??
Receptionist: I'm afraid we can't do anything about that as you have gone on one of the websites that isn't on that list.
Luke: But your website said you could beat it by 10%???

Turns out, being super persistent gets you what you want.

We arrived at the hotel and checked in as normal. I don't know about you, but the most daunting thing after checking into any hotel whether it is at home or abroad, is whether the room meets your standards. WELL, as soon as we walked in (barely) the room was far too small. We knew the room would be smaller than usual because the woman we booked it with mentioned this...but we didn't think it would be fitting for a few Guinea Pigs. Other than the size, the room itself was quite nice, clean and we had a fantastic view of the City. Nevertheless, we decided to mention this to the Receptionist. I left all the talking to Luke (as per). This is how the conversation went:

Luke: Hi, we have just checked in and our room is extremely small. Is there any chance you could move us to a bigger room?
Manager: Let me just check what room you are in... Ahh yes. Well we could upgrade you to a Queen size room for an extra £20?
Luke: Right okay... All I want to know is if you have any bigger rooms for the same price? I paid (X amount) for this room at additional 10% discount as your website said you could do this with any internet price we found for your hotel?
Manager: Yes, but this is a different day and most hotels are going for £120+ today.
Luke: But I booked this a few days ago and have already paid, which in my eyes, is FAR to much for the standard of the room you have given us.

I won't go into the entire conversation, but let's just say, it didn't end well! We didn't get an upgrade and when my friend arrived, her room was much bigger for the same priced double room we booked over the phone. Luke even threatened to write a bad review (the first bad review for this hotel) on Trip Advisor; this didn't phase them.
So as soon as we arrived home, Luke was on it like a car bonnet. He wrote a letter to HR and it sounded really professional, until this:
"Nowhere did it state on your website that your rooms cater for characters out of the Lord Of The Rings Trilogy."
A man of many words... He also wrote a bad review on Trip Advisor. But needless to say, we had a speedy response. The woman apologised for the inconvenience and offered us a free Queen size room for the night if we deleted the Trip Advisor review. Low and behold, we are now planning our next trip to Liverpool, ha! But this just goes to show, that if you have had a bad experience or you feel something did not meet your standards, you should ALWAYS follow through with it and take it further. But please ladies, don't EVER do this:



I don't know HOW she got a refund, but this certainly wouldn't happen in England, haha!
I hope this has encouraged all of you to complain about, well, everything! In the end, you will come to an agreement, if not, something better than you hoped for! Worst case scenario, this could happen...



Buenos dias mi amigos!
T.






Tuesday 4 June 2013

Chapter 7: What Does It All Mean?

Have you ever heard a song and thought, "What the frig is this about?" or watched a movie the whole way through, got to the end and thought, "What the hell?!". More recently when I have gone to the cinema, I have watched a film and thought, "This is okay..." and when it reaches the end I am sorely disappointed. Quite a lot of times now I have spoke out loud in the cinema and been like, "C'MON!"... My boyfriend can vouch for this. But to me it seems like the people writing these songs and movies are in a rush to make them. Take Robbie Williams for example... I'm a huge fan by the way. Going to see him in a couple of weeks. However, the majority of his songs don't make any sense! Take this one for example:


I rest my case.

Right now I feel like a lot of people are doing that with their own lives. Rushing into things and feeling pressured to do it because everyone else seems to be. Getting a job for example... When I was unemployed every time I logged onto Facebook it would be status after status, "I got the job!" or "Start my new job tomorrow." We are then inclined to feel like we are absolute bums 'cause we are trying so hard to get into a job we know we'd love and enjoy. For me that would be awesome, to live to work and not work to live. Don't get me wrong,  I like my job, but of course, I want to better myself and go for bigger and better opportunities that are available. If I could make a living out of blogging to you guys every week I would, sad think is, that's not possible! But hey ho!

I just wish people would see the bigger picture and think, actually you know what, it's never too late! Like myself for example. Yes that's right,  I'm one of them. I often think I should have taken a year out before University so that I could think about what I really wanted to do, instead of rushing into a course I thought I'd like. I did Media and Communications as a degree and to be quite honest, I don't know why?! I don't read the newspaper as often as I should and when I do, it's a tabloid and straight to the showbiz and horoscopes sections I go. I don't watch the News as often as I should because to be quite honest, it's severely depressing and the only factual information I like to read is what's going on in the entertainment industry. Yes that's right, I'm a faux Media and Communications graduate!

I'm still at a point of my life where I think, "What the hell am I doing?", hence the blog title. But I'm here to say it's okay to think that no matter what age you are. I have met so many people who are living proof that it is never too late to do the things you have always wanted to do. I have never had the privilege of meeting this pair, but just take a look and you'll see it's never too late. If Jack Nicholson and Morgan Freeman can't prove this, who can?!



The same goes for people who worry. Again, I am one of them, if not the worst one! I worry about everything and I have come to realise it is all just wasted energy. I worried about not getting a job before this one because of all the rejection I faced previously, which I guess is natural for everyone. The next few things I'm about to mention, are not natural. I worry if I have forgotten to put deodorant on (for the people around me of course). I worry if have something on my back because of a terribly embarrassing moment I had as a young girl (don't ask). I worry if I do a silent fart and someone catches me out. What is wrong with me?! You are all probably laughing right now, but that just supports the fact I worry about NOTHING. Nothing that matters anyway.
This week I worried about something that actually matters a lot and it turns out, there was nothing to be worried about. There never really was because I knew in my heart everything was going to be okay. Over the past year I have realised that having faith and believing are key in order for you to stay positive and look on the bright side. Without these, there is no real meaning being the saying, "don't worry" and "everything is going to be okay".

Baz Luhrmann couldn't have put it better himself:



'Til next time.
Love to you all for the massive support.
T.