Typecast

During February I will be posting a series of writing prompts so welcome to the first in the series.  I would love bloggers from all corners of the internet to join in, get creative, be inspired to write whilst helping to promote CLIC Sargent and Yummy Mummy Week - 10th to 18th March 2012.   Why am I doing this?  This time it's personal and you can read all about that here .  You can also download the official press release and images to use in your posts from that link.  I want you to get inspired to do something (small or massive) to help support the CLIC Sargent charity.

GONE WITH THE WIND The child darted around the corner as the lightening struck. He started to run down a dark valley. All of a sudden he tripped. When he got up all he saw was a whirlwind. It started to move towards him. It lifted him and he disappeared for good. Jake O'Hara (aged 12) My son's school submitted pupils' work for the Young Writers Mini Sagas competition and Jake's has been chosen to be included in their published anthology ( which I won't be paying £15.99 for - I'll wait until it comes out on Kindle... ).  They had to write on a theme that inspired them using 50 words or less.   For Jake, it's a massive achievement.  For me, it's another Proud Parent Moment especially as he struggles with concentration and spelling at the best of times.  I'll get him doing one of the  100 words  challenges next.  Just like this has ended up as!

These days I'm more of a Radio 2 girl with the occasional foray in to Radio 4 (twenty years ago I never ever thought I'd see the day where I admitted that but there you go) but I do listen to the Chris Moyles breakfast show on the way into work.  One day last week they played the Generic MP3 Player Shuffle Game  and I thought, "That'll make a good blog post," but  Seasider Clare got there first, didn't even think to tag me passed it on and I ended up getting tagged by Helen . I've done something similar  way back when my blog was a baby but I've changed my phone and my songs since then however the rules are similar.  Switch on your boom box, hit shuffle five times and post the songs up.  Here we go...

If this is not true then someone had better make it come true.  Just sayin'... Ferris Bueller, you're my hero!

It was 1983, I had just finished primary school, was looking forward to going to high school and we were setting off for a two-week holiday in the caravan, in France - Mum, Dad, my sister (aged 7) and myself.  It was the first time we had ever ventured away from the UK in the caravan so Mum and Dad booked us onto an organised 'rally' with the local branch of the Caravan Club, we prepared for long car journeys and swotted up on our Franglish.  As we were newbies to foreign travel we were paired up with seasoned caravanners on the same rally and we were all (30 families) to meet the night before the ferry crossing in a field somewhere just north of Weymouth. Disaster #1 No-one told dad that it was advisable to disconnect the fridge from the car battery power during the ferry crossing.  After the crossing, we arranged to meet our paired couple on the dockside, we all piled into the car and... nothing.  No power to the car.  The fridge had drained the b...

Having your own stalker or troll is a sure sign that you're considered "a celebrity, write interesting tweets or are special" (thanks,  @polythenepram , I think).  And, naturally, that means you are popular enough to for someone to make the effort to think up tweets to try and bring you to your knees, sobbing and wailing.  Let me set the scene...

Today ten children in the UK will hear the news they have cancer.  Shocked?  I'm not!   Been there, done that , bought the t-shirt (and other fund-raising goodies...).  When my daughter was being treated for Neuroblastoma in 1992 we were supported by the Malcolm Sargent organisation (now CLIC Sargent ) in many ways, including provision of a washer and dryer to help with the increased amount of laundry, travel expenses to and from the hospital and we used the parent's facilities at the hospital funded by monies raised through various activities around the country. I've been looking for a way to give back for twenty years and it's just been handed to me on a plate thanks to this blog. CLIC Sargent want parents and bloggers with powerful voices to get involved with their Yummy Mummy week which is being held from 10th to 18th March 2012 and here's how you can join in: Read the Yummy Mummy week press release  and use the information on your blog Talk ...