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  1. 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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  2. 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.

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  3. 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.

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  4. 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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  5. 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.

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  6. You Give A Little Love

    April 15, 2012 by Amy Hansford

    A bundle of us trotted down to Commercial Road yesterday for this.

    Ready for Fat Sam's Speakeasy

    L-R: Mel, Alex, me, Johnno, Debs, Lynette*

    We, along with hundreds of others also in 20s get up, loved the whole experience. It’s not often you enjoy queueing, but when you’re continually entertained by inquisitive molls, child audience members carrying ‘Splurge Inc’ boxes with gangsters and pedal cars, it’s a pleasure. Ramsey was told to hide his inflatable gun (“Whataya doin’? There’s cops here, ya know?”), Bugsy asked Debs and Lynette if they were “da dancin’ goils” and a fight unravelled in front of us, complete with inept coppers.

    The Troxy was beautifully done out to bring back its glory days, beautiful lights embellishing the already in place art deco touches. Cabaret seating meant it was a real Speakeasy atmosphere, compered by Fat Sam himself. There was at least an hour’s worth of entertainment and participation before the film itself was screened. As an audience, we whooped for the heroes and booed for Dandy Dan and his gang. For the finale, it’s no secret that FutureCinema have prepared the biggest pie fight you’ll ever find. Fat Sam gave us all a minute to grab a poncho while the dancing girls loaded up the pies before the film restarting and the gangsters letting rip with their authentic looking Splurge Guns. An entire room full of children and adults dancing with their hands up and singing “you give a little love and it all comes back to you” won’t be forgotten.

    A brilliant time had by all – so inclusive, immersive and above all, fun.

    The great news is that this operation is getting bigger. FutureCinema are looking at creating more child friendly immersive cinema treats along the same lines as Bugsy, the first time they had made a family oriented cinema event. What could be next? I’d love to see what they could do with the original Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, or my personal favourite, the Goonies. What classic family films would you pick?

    Whatever they do, I hope they continue. These wonderfully theatrical adventures are exactly the kind of thing I’d love to bring Little L to one once she’s old enough to enjoy them. Until then, Mummy and Daddy will indulge themselves in their childhood dreams.

    *Picture half inched from Paul Ramsey who was hiding behind the camera at the time!

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  7. Offbeat Bride

    April 8, 2012 by Amy Hansford

    I’ve slowed things down. Generally, life is good. My impressive run of bad luck continues – each day seems to bring its own new surprise – but things are dealwithable. There’ve been a couple of chest twinges but nothing that a cup of tea and some pills haven’t helped. Just don’t tell work – someone somewhere will surely put me over their knee and slap me.

    Anywho, one of the feeds I follow on my Google RSS is Offbeat Bride*, a brilliant blog with ideas and thoughts on weddings.I wanted to rip this entire blog post and put it on here but thought that would be unfair to the author. So instead, click the link below to see

    10 tips for how to handle me now that I’m a bride.

    Brilliant.

    *I also follow Offbeat Home and Offbeat Mama – I just wish I had time to try out everything I see!

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  8. SFX Tweetender

    February 6, 2012 by Amy Hansford

    The weekend just gone was that of the SFX Weekender at Pontins, Prestatyn, North Wales, a sci-fi convention. Alex went with some of the boys from the Griffins – well deserved after being a show widow for the past month. It’s completely my cup of tea, so I was a little gutted at not going myself. However, thank goodness for Twitter. Thanks to the #sfxweekender tag, I was able to see everyone’s tweets from the event, keeping up with what was hot/not and seeing photos in real time.

    It was also a very useful tool for relaying information to the boys. On the first day (Thursday) I was able to note that there was no food available on site after 7pm, the acommodation was shoddy having been hastily finished the day before and people were having to queue for a long time in freezing temperatures outside. I advised the lads to take food, home comforts and warm clothes.

    Equally, I knew even before Alex did that Brian Blessed’s panel had been possibly the highlight of the convention and that he was now an 800-hours trained cosmonaut. Brian, not Alex.

    Even now, long after the last attendee left the holiday camp, I’m enjoying people tweeting links to their photo collections of the weekend. Such amazing costumes, and some that are just good fun, i.e. Iron Man being a guy that sellotaped the chalet’s ironing board to his back.

    Although this is from last year’s con, this has to be one of the best baby costumes I have ever seen. And yes, that is Steven Moffatt. (I think.) What a brilliant upcycle of a walker!

    So if you’re attending an event or would just like to pretend that you are, I strongly recommend tracking down the tag and following it on Twitter. It’ll keep you way more informed than the organisers will.

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  9. The Internet has been won

    January 24, 2012 by Amy Hansford

    With show week it’s been a little mad around here. Certainly no time for a decent blog post (unless your daughter has woken you at 6am and won’t go back to sleep).

    In light of this, I thought I’d share a little fun with you all. Thanks to Andrew Wooding and Scott McLean P, I have been pointed towards this absolute gem of a site, “Ross Kemp Folded“. It’s the website you never knew that you needed.

    People have taken the time to source pictures of Ross Kemp and fold them, with hilarious consequences. So have a nosy (as he’s mainly lost his) and enjoy while I continue to run around like a headless chicken in Cinderella II.

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  10. Wer Wer Wer

    January 16, 2012 by Amy Hansford

    I recently posted on Facebook that this was the year of the anti-mope. No more moping and whining, instead it’s time to just get on and get over the problems, working around them so they’re no longer as issue.

    I’ve caught myself in a right old mope. So here’s my anti-moping* action plan.

    Issue: Weight Gain
    I’m not doing Slimming World. Alex is. I’m doing it by proxy, in that I’m eating everything he is but having something different if it’s easier, especially with getting to rehearsals/the show on time. According to our scales, I put on 3.3kg in the past week. That’s 7lbs. That’s half a stone. That’s ridiculous. I wasn’t looking to lose any weight, but I definitely didn’t expect to put any on.
    Action: SUPU
    That’s “Shut Up and Put Up” for now. There’s not much I can do for the next fortnight while the show is on. At least if I’m eating three meals a day, the work out of nightly dance routines should put the extra weight gain to bed. In the meantime, I can continue to walk with Little L each day.

    Issue: Knackered Knees
    Before Christmas, I was suffering with Bursitis around my hip joints. In the past week, my knees have started to crunch. It feels like the bones slice into each other within my knee joint, if that makes any sense. It mainly happens when my legs are straight, but also in the dances for the show.
    Action: Osteopath and change of gait
    Alan, my osteopath at Joint Solutions, is brilliant. In the past, he’s had me go from being doubled over in pain to being able to perform a whole show in a day. So, a trip to Bletchley is in order. In the meantime, I will do a slightly Steptoesque walk with my knees slightly bent.

    Issue: Tiredness
    I don’t know if it’s because I’m a new(ish)mum and therefore spend my day chasing after a wee babe, but this show is really taking it out of me. I dropped a rehearsal last week as I felt tired enough that I would likely crash on the way home (it’s a 35 min drive away). It’ll all ease off once the show is over, but for now, I am cream crackered.
    Action: More sleep
    Alex is already very tolerant of me getting home and falling into bed within ten minutes. Perhaps I need to nap when Little L naps too. Add to that my B12 jab next week (okay, a week late, but it’s on the way at least) and I should have a little more zip about me by the end of the month.

    What are your solvable gripes at the moment?

    *I ummed and erred over this spelling. On the basis that the action of using a mop is ‘mopping’, I felt happiest with the ‘moping’ spelling. Yes, these are the things that would otherwise keep me up at night.

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