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Life advice #3: Life is too short – enjoy it.

January 26, 2013 by Amy Hansford

Life advice from a 90 year old? I’ll take it.
Backstory blog can be found here.

3. Life is too short – enjoy it.

Someone else who likes to enjoy life and have fun.
Photo from The White House

People die every day. There. I said it. It’s a sentence that remains true, no matter how horrid or personal it may feel. Some people make it through to a grand old age, having the time of their life, and passing away gently in their sleep with no sudden pain or long illnesses. That’s a good way to go, I think. Others choose to go, in which case I can only feel bad that their life didn’t turn out the way they had hoped. Others, well, others are taken too early. And that’s just not good at all.

I could get hit by a bus today. I sincerely hope I’m not. Equally I could suffer a fatal concussion at the hands of a clumsy squirrel and its nut. I can be as careful as I can be, and yet something might get in the way and cause me a mischief.

It could happen at any time, so there’s no point putting off the things we want to do until the weather is better, or Little L’s a bit bigger, or it’s not so busy. Well maybe a bit of the latter, but the point is, we should get on and do stuff.

So we are. We’re getting a babysitter so we can go to a party. We’re going for more walks – the snow is a fun talking point, not something to hide from. Less Cbeebies, more activities. Less sofa slobbing, more fun. Less waiting patiently on the career ladder and more jumping ship to do what I’d really enjoy.

I would write more but I’m off to dance around the room with my toddler. No matter how long or short my life is, I want to enjoy that as much as I can.

Category Uncategorized | Tags: advice,enjoy,life | No Comments
Life advice #2: When in doubt, just take the next small step.

January 19, 2013 by Amy Hansford

Life advice from a 90 year old? I’ll take it.
Backstory blog can be found here.

2. When in doubt, just take the next small step.

Every now and again, we all have a look on Reed* to see how green the grass on the other side is looking. I think it’s a bit like that with jobs. You may be one of the lucky ones, doing something you love that pays as much as you need it to. You may be doing something that’s alright and working out if this is your career path or whether there’s a better offer out there. You might be one of the unfortunate ones, having been handed your redundancy notice. There’s a lot of it about.

Over the last couple of months, I found myself in the middle one and on the edge of the latter. Nosing around for where I might have a better fit, coming across something quite extraordinary, and receiving a request for voluntary redundancies in quick succession.

It was a normal evening, surfing around Reed and Monster to see if there was anything that might be a better option. Apart from a surprisingly tempting offer from Affairs4u** nothing caught my eye. Cue a Google search for ‘drama teacher’, just for the hell of it. A sponsored ad from Gumtree appeared. For laughs, I clicked through, expecting a job for experienced drama teachers to deliver leaflets/earn money from home/make quick $$$ etc.

But I was in for a surprise.

A company called Pyjama Drama was looking for franchisees in my local area. Was this it? Was this the job I was looking for? Or should I retreat back to the relative safety of my desk job? There we have it ladies and gentlemen – doubt.

What to do, what to do, what to do. Chase or hide from the opportunity? I didn’t want to jump in too soon. I didn’t want to fire off an application form. I didn’t want to give up on a three year start to a career without good reason. So a smaller step.

I sent a quick email showing a bit of interest. Asking for more information.

Taking this small step gave me the information I needed. The confirmation that yes, not only was this the right step to take, it was the step I’ve been waiting for.

And that small step has since turned into an almightly leap.

But that’s a blog for another time.

*Other job search websites are available
**This is a real thing. Also, I am referring to a job, not utilising their services.

Category Uncategorized | Tags: advice,career,jobs,pyjama drama | No Comments
Life advice #1: Life isn’t fair, but it’s still good.

January 12, 2013 by Amy Hansford

Life advice from a 90 year old? I’ll take it.
Backstory blog can be found here.

1. Life isn’t fair, but it’s still good.

Since the start of December, I have been learning the words, songs, dances and blocking to play Aladdin in the Griffin Players‘ pop up panto, a one off day of shows for the families of a local company. The chap who played him in the main family panto wasn’t available on the planned show date and I was delighted to be asked to step in.

It was great. I’ve never played a lead in a panto. I’ve played the comedy lead over and over, which I adore. But the romantic lead? I’ve neither the look or the grace for it. But somehow, we made it work, and rehearsals were brilliant. Full of laughs and I finally got to sing a solo, something unheard of since the days of Anything Goes (2007?).

The night before the panto I was struck down with the norovirus. When it hit me at 5am that I wouldn’t be able to do the show despite all the hard work, I was absolutely gutted. Gutted for letting down the cast, gutted for giving the director a horrid task the morning of the show, and gutted to have had the opportunity taken away from me.

A knight in shining armour made it to the venue with 15 minutes to spare before the first show and played Aladdin with script in hand to an amazed audience and a grateful cast. The shows went down brilliantly – the Griffins have been asked back next year – and the day was saved. Meanwhile, I was – well, you know – for the next three days.

So that’s the “life isn’t fair” bit. But it’s still good.

It gave me an enforced rest break in these months of rehearsals/visits/work/being a mummy. As a friend pointed out, while it was cruel to have put in all that work and then fall ill, it gave me a chance to remember what it’s like to be on a stage. To sing. To learn a dance routine. It stopped me from going too rusty. It reminded me how much fun it is to be part of a cast family again.

And you know what? It’s still good.

Category Uncategorized | Tags: advice,aladdin,amdram,Griffin Players,life,panto | No Comments
Coming up at Awakey

January 11, 2013 by Amy Hansford

Stan Lee is 90 but I don’t think it was him
Photo from Nerdage

The lovely people at Pyjama Drama recently linked to advice from a 90 year old* on how to live life. This list tickled me. As much as I’d like to take on all the advice in one go, I figure that’s not going to happen. It’s easier to absorb one item a day, or even a week. As such, I thought they’d make great blog post titles.

There’ll be other stuff coming up on the blog too – there’s the big changes in my job to talk about as well as updates on adult panto and other esciting projects. I’m rubbish at sticking to timetables, so let’s see if I can stick out the whole list of 42.

In fairness, it’s a brilliant number.

*Whether it really was from a 90 year old or or whether it was a marketing prop by someone else to get ‘likes’, I don’t mind. I think they’re great either way.

Category Uncategorized | Tags: 90,advice,life | No Comments
Countdown

January 4, 2013 by Amy Hansford

No, not the telly programme. The timed anticipation of events. And there are lots of them coming in 2013.

3 weeks until: Opening night for Friends Of Dorothy, the adult panto that I co-wrote for the Griffin Players. Rehearsals invariably contain a portion of people becoming unable to speak through laughter. The cast are just so good at what they do and are so easy to direct. The show is going to be brilliant.
2 months until: The end of an era! More on this nearer the time.
3 months until: Little L’s second birthday. No idea what to do yet, but the thought of being able to do anything at all is quite exciting.
And a bit further to: Jenny and Stuart’s wedding. It’s going to be brilliant.

And they’re just for starters. It’s going to be a good year.

Category Uncategorized | Tags: 2013,baby,Griffin Players,life,panto,weddings | No Comments
Coming up

November 29, 2012 by Amy Hansford

I’m doing something brilliant over the next few months.

It’s brilliant, but it’s a secret.

However, I’m going to start writing blog posts now as I am so excited about it.

And no, I am not pregnant.

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We only went and did it, didn’t we?

October 2, 2012 by Amy Hansford

Wow, that was a long summer break, eh? A lot has happened.
For one, Alex and I got married! It was an amazing day. I’ve not felt that chilled out for an age. The dress was gorgeous, the men were too, as was everyone else. Little L and all the kids were incredibly well behaved. Thanks to an announcement at the start of the ceremony, my father and I were able to enjoy our walk down the aisle and see everyone’s faces, not their phones. Fab. Little L was with us having cuddles for the whole thing. We did it all as a family. Not intended, not rehearsed, but just perfect.

Our friends and family provided brilliant music during the ceremony. My incredible shoes brought both a world of wonder and a world of pain. 1400 shoes on, 1545 shoes off. Thank goodness for my leopard print pumps.
Pinewood Studios made an amazing venue. It was wonderful for us to be able to give all our friends and family the gift of being able to have a good mooch around the beautiful gardens including secret bits here and there.

Tons of wedding photos by the incredible Ben and Tim at Milkbottle Photography be here.

Brlliant food, brilliant company, brilliant speeches. We had a ‘DON’T BLINK’ sign on the only statue in the garden. Mario, Peach and Toad topped our wedding cake. Everyone had a scrumptious brownie favour from The Brownie Company. We did the wedding waddle. We drank*. We sang. We laughed. We cried (but only when no-one was looking). We have a hilarious guest book thanks to brightly coloured pens and Polaroid cameras and wonderfully thoughtful friends and family. We were surrounded by our loved ones for our last dance, ‘Good Guys’ from Bugsy Malone. We waved as we skipped out, followed by our guests singing and waving along. It was like the end of our own perfect movie.

Or rather, the beginning.

x

*I only had a tiny bit of alcohol. I’m not pregnant, don’t worry. I just didn’t want to drink. And I’m so glad. I remember every detail.

Category Uncategorized | Tags: family,Pinewood Studios,wedding | 1 Comment
Hanging On the Telephone

July 15, 2012 by Amy Hansford

I had a brilliant hen weekend. My amazing maid of honour and co found a fantastic house with a maze of rooms, a great chill out lounge plus a pool and jacuzzi. We relaxed, we had the Amylympics and generally escaped from it all which is what we all needed.

I did witness a curious occurance, and probably would not have noticed it had my phone had an ounce of signal. Unintentionally, I ended up on a communications blackout as I only had signal on my mobile in a small area of the bedroom. This turned out to be a good thing – it forced me to relax. I found myself holding a cup of tea with both hands and being able to observe and enjoy everyone having fun. I wasn’t checking my emails, Twitter or Facebook every two minutes*. I had no idea what the rest of the world was up to – I was happy in the one we’d all made in Lincoln.

It also gave me the chance to look around. I saw a room full of friends alternating between sharing the experience of a duvet day and near silence as everyone checked their friends’ Facebook statuses. I saw people take photos of what was happening and upload them as soon as they could. Even on a getaway, people were drawn to share their experiences with the rest of the world rather than with those in the room at the time. There’s nothing wrong with this – it’s the world we live in – I just found it curious.

Similarly, on the last night when there were only seven of us, we had a karaoke session. Karaoke is something that is very much a social experience. You reciprocate the support your friends give you while singing by supporting them when it is their turn. I found myself singing a tune and looking out to find silent friends checking their smart phones. Again, that’s now the norm and wouldn’t be noticed in the pub, but it was a strange thing.

I should reitterate, had I had normal reception on my phone, I would have been doing exactly the same.

So what did this experience teach me?

I am too reliant on my phone and, specifically, my internet access.
I’ve started leaving my phone on the table at home rather than having it stuck to me.
I’ve vowed not to live life through a lens – I will watch gigs and shows and giggles, not record them.
I appreciate seeing friends and family and keep reminding myself that tweets, messages and emails won’t disappear if I don’t look at them.

How much do you rely on your phone?

*Yes, that’s pretty much the frequency I check. I am addicted to my iPhone.

Category Uncategorized | Tags: addiction,communication,facebook,friends,internet,life,reception,social,twitter,wedding | 2 Comments
Chugging away

June 28, 2012 by Amy Hansford

I have a post I want to write, but I’m still formulating how I want it to go in my head and what I want it to say.
When I figure that out, I’ll be back!

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Always look on the brig… ah, forget it.

June 7, 2012 by Amy Hansford

Just to warn you – I’m about to grumble, and it may not be pretty.

I like to think I’m pretty organised. I also like to think that I do what I can to make things clear and obvious and therefore as easy as possible for people to understand. So I feel a bit disappointed today.

I’ve spent the last few months organising some Team Teach training for targeted members of our transport staff. I arranged the venue, the trainers, the refreshments, the resources, I contacted managers and asked for names of attendees, I sent out information packs to not just the attendees but their managers too so everyone was aware it was occurring and, crucially, I even remembered to pack myself a lunch.

This morning heralded the big day – day one of the two day course. 24 attendees, 2 trainers – what could go wrong?

I arrived at the venue – nothing was set up. Cue hulking around tables and chairs. three of my colleagues (the only in house staff on the training) arrived. The trainers arrived. Good, all good. Two more trainees turned up. Fab. No refreshments. Crap. 8.30am turned and all was quiet from reception. I went and got the refreshments myself – everyone needs a cup of tea at that time of the morning. 8.45am and the tumbleweed whistled through reception. By 9am it was time to call it quits and get on with the session.

6 people were there. 6. Just us for the whole day. Only 2 were external. The whole point of the exercise was to provide training for external staff. I’m yet to speak to the managers who failed to chivvy their staff along to the session, but I feel livid that the Council spends time and resources on trying to make a difference and it gets ignored by those it intends to help. I feel angry that I’ve seemingly wasted my effort on something that was meant to encourage a positive relationship between us and the taxi operators. I feel gutted that a session that was deemed good value in terms of attendance versus costings has become more akin to losing a wallet in the River Ouse.

And what kicks me is that the training was so useful. To have the knowledge of how to de-escalate situations and get oneself out of a tight spot would have been invaluable to certain invisible attendees.

So I feel a bit disappointed today.

Category Uncategorized | Tags: diasppointing,fail,Team Teach,training,work | No Comments

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