Oops.

Well technically this is "after the weekend" - just quite some time after.

The Ball was fantastic. It was organised by Lorraine, mother of 2 boys with CF, and publicised quite widely within the CF community. Because of this, I was aware there would be quite a high percentage of parents of children with CF and other relatives of CFers, so I was more nervous than usual as I needed my speech to be hard-hitting yet positive. Erk.

A and I drove up on Saturday afternoon and arrived in good time for A to make use of the lovely Spa facilities. On his return to the room he informed me that everyone knew me (or new about me) including (by sheer coincidence) a lady who was not attending the ball but who was a journalist who I'd spoken to on several occasions.

We got ready (I may or may not have had a strop about my hair before deciding it was probably ok and I wouldn't shave it all off) and headed down to the drinks reception. I was overjoyed to see Suzie looking radiant and sat chatting to her and her friend. I sought out Lorraine who was in a gorgeous read dress and doing a very good job of not looking harrassed! We moved into the main room for the meal which was beautifully decorated and had a stage all set up ready for the live band which would feature later in the evening.

After the rather yummy dinnner, Lorraine and her husband spoke briefly to thank everyone and to explain how CF affects their family, and then it was my turn. As always with these things, what I actually said turns into a bit of a blur afterwards, but I got a few laughs (intentional - not due to failure to speak English I hasten to add) and quite a few tears, so hopefully it did the trick.

I then donned a sash to help with the auction, and went round shaking a bucket asking for people to empty their pockets and wallets of any loose change in a (hopefully) sweet and non-menacing way.

Money-relieving duties over, it was time to start dancing, and the fantastic Amy and the Aviators (who I'd thoroughly recommend) got everyone up from the first song and most of us stayed on the dancefloor till the very end.

All in all it was a fantastic night; I had great fun and it was lovely to meet some of the parents from the boards, and to chat to Suzie and Lorraine not in a muddy field for once! Bring on the next one...

I'm off to Nottingham tomorrow.

I'm heading up there to attend a CF Ball, organised by a mother of two boys with CF. I'm doing a speech, and weirdly, I'm quite nervous.

I'm not exactly sure why; I think it's because I'm very aware that a lot of the people in the audience are parents of CFers. Therefore I want to balance it right and not give anyone sleepless nights! But at the same time the hard side of CF needs to be told to ensure that people understand why the money needs to be raised.

Don't get me wrong, I am also very much looking forward to it, especially seeing some familiar faces. And wearing my lovely green dress (woo)

I just hope I have aimed my speech at the right level and that the ball is the success it deserves to be. Will blog about it after the weekend, have a good one all.

Jess is someone I've mentioned many times over the years. She is the feisty small blonde person with the infectious giggle and a survival ability which surpasses anything I've ever seen.

Jess was only 15 when she was told she needed a double lung transplant. Almost 4 years later, Jessica is still waiting.

She has managed to survive beyond all expectation and has doubled what doctors predicted when listing her. But not even Jess is superhuman, and I am getting very worried now.

Jess has had a lot of false alarms, where the transplant could not go ahead due to a problem with the organs. Very recently, she got called again....and was too unwell to undergo the operation.

Jess is now back in hospital, and the team are fighting hard to get her well enough to undergo the operation hopefully in time for another call. Jess' time is running out.

As she was in hospital and far too ill to come and support Holly's Donor Day in person, Jess was determined to support her in any other way she could.

Please pass the link on to the below because if this doesn't kick people into action....I don't know what will.


Why support Donor Day?

Just a quickie to say I am still here and fine and hope everyone had a lovely Easter...

Things have been crazy, and I was going to write about it, but a)because I'm lazy and b)because she's done it so well I suggest that you read Holly's account of Donor Day and the days surrounding it.

The whole thing was an incredible success and she did so very very well.

Shall write more in the week. But all is good :)

Holly's big day is on Tuesday.

Am uber-excited for her...and also incredibly nervous. I'll be in London with her and the Battlefront film crew pretty much all of Monday and Tuesday, so please, lovely blog-following-people, if you can spread the word online, it would be vastly appreciated.

Wish us luck!

Could you repost this somewhere? Please help Holly spread the word...