I love... Glee

Yes, that's right, I am a Gleek! Well sort of. I enjoy the show and occasionally relive the songs on You Tube! Well maybe more than "occasionally", maybe closers to after every show! I actually almost saw the cast while on holiday in NYC last year. I saw fellow Gleeks waiting (not so patiently) at the back door of a theatre where the Glee cast had been performing a live show, waiting on the cast coming out. I didn't see them, however, as my friends (not being Glee fans) where not willing to wait with me, and I didn't really fancy waiting around in a back alley in New York by myself. Oh well... maybe some other time.

What I love about the show, that no other show does quite as well,  is that every episode is always fun, but at the same time has an underlying message that makes us all think. I suppose it teaches us (or reminds us) about the moral lessons we learnt at school, such as; that friends and family are important, that lying is wrong, that cheating doesn't get us anywhere, and that we are all unique in our own individual way and we should be proud of that.

I love almost every song they sing, but one of my favourite songs/performances of the 2 seasons so far (remembering that I live in the UK so I am a bit behind those of you in America) was when Kurt sang the Beatles song "I wanna hold your hand". This song had me in tears.

Another of my favourite performances was from season 1, when the whole football team sang Beyonce's "Single Ladies (Put A Ring On It)". This song had me in tears as well, but unlike the last video, I was in tears due to laughing to much. This performance was genius!

What do you think of the show? I would love to hear what your favourite songs are so that I could relive the moments... again!
 

I love... gymnastics

Last week my gymnastics club held their annual gymnastics competition. For some gymnasts entering it was their first competition, for others in was not, but no matter how many competitions a gymnast has taken part in the same feelings come rushing back the second they step into the competition hall.

Being an ex-gymnast myself I knew exactly how all the gymnasts were feeling. Some words to describe their emotions would go along the lines of; nervous, scared, worried, but also; happy, excited and determined. Being entered into a competition is definitely something for a gymnast to be proud of as well (although this is probably the last emotion they are thinking about) because it shows your couch thinks you have the ability to compete in a gymnastics competition, not simply learn gymnastics skills.

Now being a coach, similar emotions still run through my head. I get nervous for the gymnasts. I know they are all capable (or else they would not have been entered into the competition), but can they pull off their best routines in front of a eagerly watching audience? The thought of "of course they can" helps to ease my nervousness slightly, though. And what eases the feeling even more is that they prove me right every single time.

From personal experience, yes having the pressure of a eagle-eyed audience watching you makes you nervous, but somehow it also makes your more determined to get it right, and more often than not you perform better than you ever have before. I think it's because deep down everyone likes to show off, even if it's just a little bit.

So moving away from the emotion of nervousness, I will move on the the feeling of being excited and proud. I am extremely proud of every single gymnasts. Yes they misbehave at training, don't listen to what I say, but all in all they do work hard and a competition is an excellent opportunity to show off what they have been learning and hopefully be rewarded for it. Well done to all the gymnasts!

Beth Tweddle

Do any of you enjoy gymnastics? Or any sport for that matter. I used to be very active and sporty when I was younger but I just don't seem to have the time to fit it into my schedule these day, which is a shame.

I love... Mr Honkus (and Comic Relief)

Mr "Honkus" was my true companion yesterday. He stuck close by me for the majority of the day and, although he made it difficult to breathe, he created laughter, which in turn creates happiness, which is ultimately what this blog is all about.

Ok, so Mr "Honkus" is not really my new best friend or my new side kick or my new boy friend, but yesterday he was my.... Red Nose!! Yes, yesterday the whole country got together and raised money for Comic Relief, or Red Nose Day (hence Mr "Honkus"). Comic Relief is a major charity in the UK and the wearing of a red nose shows your support.

Each year Comic Relief bring out a new style of red nose and this year the style was monsters. There was three to choose from; Honkus, Captain Conk and Chucklechomp, and they only cost £1.

From the title of this post, you may have guessed that my favourite is Honkus!

Comic Relief is all about doing something funny (hence the "Comic" Relief) to raise money for the much less fortunate. A television programme is streamed live onto our T.V. sets showing a great array of comedy spectaculars, with most of them including famous people making themselves look rather ridiculous. But, we forgive our famous idols because they are helping not only to raise money for the less fortunate, but also to bring awareness to the fact that there is always something worse happening to someone else.

Watching the numerous hours of comedy sketches, and the horrific scenes filmed in places such as poverty stricken Africa, really drums in that us "Westerners" really do have it easy. Yes, we feel our lives are difficult sometimes, we worry about minor issues such as traffic jams and the rain, but at least we have clean running water, we have enough food and we have enough money to ensure fatal, but easy to treat, diseases do not exist in our countries. We have clean hospitals to ensure that new babies are born safely and diseases and illnesses are treated efficiently. We take all these "luxuries" for granted, when really we should feel extremely lucky, because some people have nothing, and when I say nothing, I mean nothing: no water, no food.

I apologise that this may not be one of my happiest of posts, but, although the images shown on Comic Relief are terribly distressing, they also make me aware that I am one of the lucky ones. It makes me realise that there are people much worse off than me, and in reality, I have nothing to complain about. I think it's important that when we feel down or upset about things, that we take just a minute or two to think about people in this world who have nothing. This simple thought is enough to make you realise that, yes, life is hard sometimes, but it could most certainly be a whole lot worse.

So to keep up all smiling I will leave you with a few pictures of what Honkus got up to yesterday...

  

Did you get up to anything funny for money yesterday? I would love to hear all the funny stories.

I love... the snow

Today, in the month of March, I woke up to see the ground covered in a light covering of… snow! Yes you read correctly, I woke up to the snow in March. I was a little confused; thought I had maybe went back in time a few months, or overslept for around 9 months and woke up in December. Obviously I had done neither and it was simply a snowy March morning.

For as long as I can remember, I recall having snow in the winter, even if it only lasted an hour or a day, it never failed to arrive for a brief visit. However, until the winter that we have only recently came out of, I have never seen so much snow at one time and in one place, in my entire life.

News readers and reporters (and people who don’t appreciate the snow very much) described it as “the worst winter ever”. I, on the other hand, thought it was one of the best. Yes, the snow caused disruptions, and yes, you couldn't drive your car, and if you were lucky enough to manage to, it took you 3 times as long to get from place to place, but what’s the rush?

I love how the snow brings with it a new pace to life. Everyone forgets about rushing here, there and everywhere, and everything just slows down. Yes, everyday life changes, you can’t get everywhere in 5 minutes, but this change isn't bad, it’s just different, and by the sound of it I think we might all need to get used to it.

Another thing I love about the snow is the way it makes the land look so perfect. It hides the dirt and the rubbish left around and cover it all in a blanket.

Regrettably, since I woke up, went to work and then finally got around to writing this blog post, the snow has now disappeared and it now looks (doesn't feel) like a summers day. I doubt I will be seeing the snow around for a little while now, so I will leave you with some of the lovely snowy pictures taken during, for me, the best winter ever. I must note that these pictures do not show how deep the snow really was, but they do look pretty.

Enjoy!

Scotland

Edinburgh Castle (from BBC News Website)