LADY Lumps & Bumps

Hello again, I would again like to apologise for the lack of blogs, but I'm always apologising to you all lately! Oop's and ouch!

I'm just a tad busy is all and in the best possible way. Obviously, we've started packing again and also the Teen has been home to properly recover from Freshers flu. She's back in the UK now and looking a lot better thank goodness. Nothing that lots of sleep, decent nutrition and lack of alcohol couldn't sort!

Him in doors has been coughing his guts up for weeks now and is telling everyone he also has 'Freshers flu'! Haha! I in turn almost forgot his birthday last week, no.54 which has now been and gone and I've still not really organised anything. I'm thinking a trip to his favourite tool shop (IOU) and a supper at his favourite restaurant one day soon. It will have to do! He's also meeting himself coming backwards lately and anyway he doesn't really care for birthdays. Meanwhile, I'd celebrate the opening of an envelope and pop a cork, no excuse necessary these days!

October was a busy but frustrating month for the magazine. We've been using very new to us and super complicated, time consuming software. There have been many of those 'arghhhhhhhh' moments, especially for Maria and Tia. We do have a new team member, a proof reader and bless her she must think we are all a bit cracker's! She could be right. Bringing her on board should have been easy and she should have been able to get on with her job immediately, only we couldn't get her live on the system and we already knew what the outcome would be if someone just played! Poor Maria. She's already spent a week righting the issues from us having a play! Oops! Anyway, its a bumper issue and that's mostly why we were down to the wire as per. Nevermind! We got it done in the end and are now well into the production of December's and January's magazines! Who knew back in September that we would come this far and have achieved so much?

I did!

Of course we are still learning and whilst we appreciate the hundreds of lovely comments we are getting, the few nit picking ones are slightly irritating! We are very aware of the issues with proof reading, it has been in hand for a while now and you know, we also wish for the magazine to be as good as is humanly possible.

We are all so proud of each other and those contributing to the magazine, we really feel like we have created something really special, which I'm sure will gain traction over the coming months. Yes, there have been some much needed changes within the team, but the new team mixed with the old guard are doing really well. I'd much rather have people on board that don't constantly moan and actually offer real support and ideas. We had one long term member feel that change wasn't necessary and she was rather upset about it! Change is hard at first, I know, but the process of change was much needed to keep us fresh and moving in the right direction. There's that old Albert Einstein quote:

"The measure of intelligence is the ability to change"

It's true! We will keep adapting, growing and learning. I won't apologise for that!

Change we did, but we are still 'us' at the end of the day, serving the community the best way we know how. I have to say though that yet another attempt to discredit me and some of my team, whilst upsetting, it simply won't work. I'm a little over this nonsense by now and would rather use my energy positively. 'You do you boo' and I wish you every success, truly.....pity we couldn't have helped you with your new venture! I love to clap my friends on with their new adventures and see no reason why I should wish people to fail! It's beyond me that people that said they were my friends for years, suddenly turn on a dime and try to play victim. It's so juvenile and also little sad.

Him and I were supposed to go to Spain this week but I haven't been feeling too good and then I had one of those horrible heart stopping moments, I found a lump in my left breast, a fairly big one, easy to find and painful. The French medical service worked like clockwork, didn't keep me hanging around and I already have the all clear! Phew. my first cancer scare has made me re think a few things and at the tender age of 53, I'm not going to work myself to death and I am going to work harder to take care of myself and my health better.

I did have a few moments of letting my mind run to terrible places. Also there would have been the slight issue of not being able to move! Awkward. That said, no offence Uk, but I'd rather have medical treatment here in France any day of the week. I'm not saying there weren't some frustrating language issues, but all in all a much better experience here than anywhere else I have lived in the world!

Life surely has a way of making us realise just what is important right when we most need it!

My dear, long suffering husband read the test reports yesterday and said 'so basically Donna, you are the owner of a fine per of huge knockers' lol! So rude! He also demanded I down the tools of the media trade yesterday and brutally forced me to sit in the village, drinking wine whilst enjoying the early November sun! I went to bed last night feeling like a huge weight had lifted from my very stressed shoulders. I felt so very grateful and full of love for him and my lovely supportive family and friends.

Check those melons my lovelies!

Be kind to yourself and others.

Donna x