Well it's been a very long time since I last did a blog, it has been a very tough year in so many different ways.
We have our Ladies night coming up in just over a weeks time, it will be WoC's last event of 2013. We have the fantastic and very funny Mr Steve Haze a comedian from Blackpool who is not only going to do a segment of hilarious stand up comedy on the night, but has offered his wonderful wit to compare our whole evening! We thank you very much Steve and look forward to having an aching jaw from all the smiling and laughing we will experience on the night.
So ladies, come join us on our last venture of 2013, where the order of the night is fun,fun,fun! So as well as our comedian of the night Steve Haze, we have the superb local band Shotgun Opera who are going to blow your socks off with some fantastic live music, a mixture of their own music to showcase themselves with a mixture of covers to make sure you rock the night away.
We have also our DJ for the evening Stuart Fletcher who in between all the live action will be making sure your feet are still tapping away to the beat!
Our West Yorkshire Fire Service will be there with some delectable firemen to make sure your glasses stay full and your needs are attended to! - you will also be able to purchase their 2014 calendar which they will be selling on the night.
There will be a " photo booth" if you'd like to get photo memories of your fun filled night also.
We will be selling our charity bands and also there will be a raffle with some great prizes to be won. Our most wonderful friend and superb chef Damian Collinson is going make a sublime meal for two for the winner of one of the raffle prizes....a meal for two at the Victoria Hotel in Bradford! Thank you Damian for this fantastic raffle prize! There are plenty of other prizes to be won too!
It has been a really hard year with many disappointments, the hardest by far as you know was the the Zumba, for it having to delay it until 2014. This decision was made only two weeks before it was due to happen, the reason I was desperately trying to get things sorted.....it wasn't to be and we were left with no choice but to seek a new venue. We were badly let down by the Venue owners. It also meant we had no chance of getting all the requirements and paperwork done to receive the safety certificate in time for this year before the risks of bad weather became too big.
It was really hard for those of us who had worked so hard to get this event up and running, six months of planning, getting sponsorship, sorting details to make it a success.....afterall we were going for the World record.
I must say it has been very difficult to pick ourselves up, dust ourselves down and get on with it. So much energy and time was used for the Zumba, we were all working full-time and putting up to twenty hours a week in to the Zumba event also. We will pick this up in the new year and start over.....we have to get the momentum rolling again and the interest of the public - we at WoC are confident we will get the World record and put on an even bigger and better event than it would have been at the Bradford Bulls.
Onto more recent things, healthwise, I've had a bit of a mixed bag again this year, but am still determined to beat it all.I have had and still am having major frustrations trying to find a job, subtle discrimination happens and although most of the time you don't get told that they won't even consider you because they are frightened and put off because you are surviving cancer, that they are scared you'll get re-diagnosed or take lots of time off sick, it happens. I have been applying for jobs that are well within my remit, jobs I am over skilled for, the reasons are I'm not chasing a career, I don't want a management role....I just want to work and earn a living, earn enough so I can really live my life and not just exist. It's tough after working your whole life to struggle to find work when you are more than willing, and to have to survive on £71.20 per week. It is really tough to someone even like me who normally is a really positive person not to get down with it all. I have found with every knock back that has happened this year - that I am in fact tired....tired of having to over justify myself as a real candidate for the job, that I can more than contribute to the working environment and rightly deserve a chance. I'm tired that all the months of hard work for an amazing charity event such as the Zumba collapsed in the eleventh hour because of the whim and total disinterest of a small group of individuals. In a nutshell I've found 2013 to be just that - tiring.
My cousin Stuart has suggested I write a book about my ups and downs of living in remission and the frustrations faced each and everyday. He and his wife Jane ( also fighting and surviving cancer ) have said they will help in any way they can, including helping to get it published. I have said I will have a go, not sure if I will be able to, writing isn't really my forte and I'm unsure if anyone will find it interesting. I have been assured it will be and should inspire others who may be in the same kind of situation. I've been told I inspire on a daily basis and a book would be no different - I will let you judge for yourselves if I manage to write it, they after all are quite biased about me!
I have also decided to look at setting up my own business and hope this will be a success - the working world have done zero for my confidence and self esteem, so hopefully I will be able to make a living whilst being my own boss.....at least I won't make myself feel redundant and ineffectual.
Until next time
Tracy
