Today two weeks I’ll be on Day One of my Kilimanjaro climb! I’m nervous and impatient now; really I just want to get started. Going into the office every day and trying to work is really bothersome. My gear is lying in a little mountain of its own at the end of my bed, my rucksack is on standby, my local chemist has been cleared out of its malaria and altitude sickness tabs and I JUST WANT TO GO NOW!
It’s too late for anything but action. One way or the other (and I reckon it’s going to be the other) I’m going to climb this thing. I have a feeling it’ll be stubbornness that’ll get me to the top, but whatever gets me there I just want to start it now and waiting around is not something that’s sitting easily with me.
Before that though there’s all the stress of wrapping up everything in work and making sure everything is prepared for my absence (even though I’ve close to zero interest right now). There’s also the stress of squeezing every last cent I can from friends and acquaintances for my charities. (Speaking of which, if you’re up to nothing this evening jump in your car and come up to Shebeen Chic on George’s Street in Dublin for my final fundraising gig. Or throw me a few quid on mycharity.ie)
And of course there’s one other thing I can’t forget about – being chief bridesmaid on August 6th.
Anyone who remembers the start of this column will remember Emma Jane, who first suggested climbing Mount Kilimanjaro but then pulled out after getting engaged, choosing to direct all of her money on a nice day and lovely honeymoon instead of climbing about three vertical miles. It’s none other than this Emma who’s getting married next week!
To be fair to her she’s been very good throughout the engagement, with no bridezilla moments. And I know she’s very jealous of me heading off to Tanzania a couple of days after her wedding. She’s been nothing but supportive, but it’s her latest suggestion that’s been her greatest and reminded me again why we’re friends.
Her wedding ceremony is in Kilkenny and is at the slightly later than usual time of 4pm. So what has she suggested we do to fill the day before the main event? Hair and make-up? Nope, that shouldn’t take long. Nails and lounging about in our fluffly white personalised bride and bridesmaid robes? Nope. She’s suggested…climbing a mountain! Everyone else thinks we’re a bit mad, but we’re planning to assault Mount Brandon on the day before putting on the gúnas and heading off to get her married. At a mere 951 metres it falls short of Kilimanjaro’s 4,600 metres, and I’m sure the champagne we’re planning on bringing up Brandon won’t feature on Kilimanjaro. But it’s a great idea, will surely be a great memory and fingers crossed will kick off a month of successful mountain climbing for me!
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Tuesday, July 27, 2010
Wednesday, July 14, 2010
Plea....se
I said in my last post that life is good. Well life is not good today. I'm having a nightmare day in work; I haven't been running in over a fortnight because I've been saving my hips for Kilimanjaro (although I have been doing some hyper-fitness stuff - more on that in a minute) and I've had to cancel a fundraiser in Tullamore. Sad faces all round!
You guys can't do anything about my bad day in work unfortunately, which is a bit of a shame. (Unless you own a company that's looking to hire someone who likes chatting to people and maybe doing a bit of writing, then get in touch!)
You can't really do much when it comes to my hip problems either. Oh and speaking of, the short story when it comes to them is this: they're sub-standard and pounding the streets is nothing something they're cool with. I thought of suing my parents for making me that way but I reckoned they might counter-sue for all the grief I've given them over the years. Then I decided to just get on with it, so I started doing a bit of hyper-fitness. You should Google it - it's great. It looks like a bunch of exercises children would do. At my first session in Dublin's Phoenix Park on a warm Sunday evening the instructor warned me people would probably look at me and wonder why exactly I was sweating so much. And they did. But it's amazing - it's simple yet really makes you work and you know all about it the next day! I've also taken up badminton again, which is proving to be another good fitness session. It's a shame they've gone and changed all the rules since I played last, and also that my game has deteriorated so much it makes me swear like a fishwife on the court (although I manage to keep it under my breath now!), but overall it's a positive thing.
But on to the bit you can help me with - the cancelled fundraiser. I had planned a party for all my Offaly friends, but my hostess with the mostest had to cancel due to a very heavy college course-load. I wasn't actually that stressed when she broke the bad news because fundraising is stressing me out big time. However I don't want to see my charities going without, so if you'd be so kind as to donate a couple of quid online by searching for Laura Ryder on www.mycharity.ie I'd really appreciate it and my charities would too.
I'm looking forward to being in a better mood next time, promise!
You guys can't do anything about my bad day in work unfortunately, which is a bit of a shame. (Unless you own a company that's looking to hire someone who likes chatting to people and maybe doing a bit of writing, then get in touch!)
You can't really do much when it comes to my hip problems either. Oh and speaking of, the short story when it comes to them is this: they're sub-standard and pounding the streets is nothing something they're cool with. I thought of suing my parents for making me that way but I reckoned they might counter-sue for all the grief I've given them over the years. Then I decided to just get on with it, so I started doing a bit of hyper-fitness. You should Google it - it's great. It looks like a bunch of exercises children would do. At my first session in Dublin's Phoenix Park on a warm Sunday evening the instructor warned me people would probably look at me and wonder why exactly I was sweating so much. And they did. But it's amazing - it's simple yet really makes you work and you know all about it the next day! I've also taken up badminton again, which is proving to be another good fitness session. It's a shame they've gone and changed all the rules since I played last, and also that my game has deteriorated so much it makes me swear like a fishwife on the court (although I manage to keep it under my breath now!), but overall it's a positive thing.
But on to the bit you can help me with - the cancelled fundraiser. I had planned a party for all my Offaly friends, but my hostess with the mostest had to cancel due to a very heavy college course-load. I wasn't actually that stressed when she broke the bad news because fundraising is stressing me out big time. However I don't want to see my charities going without, so if you'd be so kind as to donate a couple of quid online by searching for Laura Ryder on www.mycharity.ie I'd really appreciate it and my charities would too.
I'm looking forward to being in a better mood next time, promise!
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