 | NOT AS INTERESTING AS SGT PEPPER | | | | | It's a day in the life of me ... | Posted by Steffi Lewis on 25/09/2011 |
It was one of those days that started quite dark. In my dressing gown, sat on the Patio with a coffee and my iPad on my knee, I was browsing Facebook and sipping my coffee, enjoying that dark, ancient bean as it fired off my tastebuds. The sun had only just risen and the blue/grey mix of a cloudy early morning sky flicked my mind into life. I had a very busy day ahead today and was bemused at how I'd managed to book it all; it kind of just happened ...
 i was listening to Sgt Pepper in the car as I drove around a sunny Milton Keynes
My goal was to get everything done, in order, and to schedule then end up at the RideHigh Charity Ball at the MK Dons Stadium, dressed, groomed and ready to party ... erm, elegantly ... at around 7pm that evening. But first there was a lot to do and I had to stay focussed to pull it all off.
I went and had a quick shower, got changed into something smart yet casual then jumped into the car. I was heading for breakfast at Abbey Hill Hotel with The Business Growth Club. Parking up, then wandering into the room, I was greeted by those present and Mark Orr handed me a coffee.
As I was sat next to him at the Table, Mark asked me to start off and I did a minute or so about my business. It was actually quite hard for me to do at 7:15am. I'm a night owl, not an early bird. Still, I was able to introduce myself and sblogit.com and enjoyed answering questions about what we do. It moved onto Pat sitting next to me, then on to the next, and the next and the waitress arrived to take my breakfast order.
I'd been thinking about this before I got here. I was going to have breakfast, then lunch at Business Live, then dinner at the RideHigh ball. A year ago, I wouldn't have minded. But a year ago, I hadn't lost loads of weight, and was very proud of a slinky figure I haven't inhabited for quite a few years. So I'd planned to just go low-carb and have loads of bacon and a couple of poached eggs. I was going to ask the waitress what was on the menu, started to ... then figured it would interrupt the person speaking, and that would be rude. So I quietly blurted out "Full English please" not realising how much food I was going to get. I left the Hotel quite stuffed, and kicked myself about not having restraint enough to ask for what I wanted. Next time I shall blurt out "Bacon & Poached Eggs please" and leave the toast alone too!
Home for an hour and I couldn't get into anything serious as I may miss the next part of my day if I fell into what Eckhart Tolle calls "no time". I get it quite a lot when I'm concentrating; especially when programming. I read BBC News, answered some email and made a couple of Skype calls. Then I was off out again.
More networking, more food, this time the monthly Business Live! event. Bacon wrapped Chicken & Veg followed by a raspberry mousse ... lush. More quiet cursing of myself under my breath! However, I really enjoyed sitting at that table as the people were so interesting. I got everyone's business card, arranged a couple of one-to-ones and got invited to a really interesting seminar in a couple of weeks.
I had our weekly mailer to send out later, so dropped into Costa Coffee in CMK and grabbed a Soy Latte. I'd always thought the taste of Soy milk was quite nutty, but after Faz insisted on buying me one earlier in the week, I'd quite enjoyed it. It helps if you're trying to stay off Lactose too! So I sat and drank it as I entered all the email addresses of my interesting new business friends. I had another appointment to go to so resolved to click the send button once I'd got that done.
I drove across MK and the weather had seriously improved by now. I was happily driving my little red Mazda along our wide, straight roads and enjoying the roundabouts. I got completely lost finding The Words Workshop as their office is in a residential area and just blended in. Who designs an estate where it's all mixed up like that? Weird. Still, I had an awesome talk with Steve and really enjoyed the big comfy sofas in their meeting area. Most of all, I loved their "Friday, 4pm ritual" and got invited back next week for a further chat. I'm going to introduce that when we get an office too!
I was aware that time was marching on and I had one last task to do before I could get home and get ready for the Ball. Dialing in an address for David Robinson of Yale Security Point into my SatNav I headed back across MK again and ended up in a completely different place from where I wanted to be. My SatNav had decided to get all confused and seemed to think I was in two different places at the same time. That was strange ... "at the next roundabout, go straight on" followed by "turn around"; it's very disorienting!
I found his lovely house though, and had a giggle with him and his girlfriend for a while, gave him the tickets for the evening then got back into my car and remembered I had forgotten to send out the Mailer! I whipped out my iPad, logged into sblogit.com and hit the send button. Driving off, I was thinking "I love technology!" and it's true. Who'd have thought I could do that a couple of years back? David commented, later in the evening "I closed the door on you and 90 seconds later your Newsletter pinged into my iPhone!" He was smiling as I told him how I'd done it.
I was as happy as a lamb driving home. I'd got everything done, on time, and in order. Now I was going to get ready for tonight, and rang my friend Pam Mannell of CRM Essentials to arrange to pick her up later. I'd bought an awesome £150 dress at House of Frazer (shhh, it was on offer, don't tell anyone!) and was looking forward to wearing it. Well it was a posh do, so I should really make an effort. I'd got frustrated clothes shopping the previous day, but was served by a lovely assistant in HoF called Emily and she was so helpful. I'd spotted two dresses I'd liked, and she brought me accessories whilst I was trying them both on and gave me her opinion on which one was better. I told her she was awesome as she was handing me the receipt. I'd also bought a beautiful fleece & faux fur wrap from M&S earlier, but that's for day use. I've worked so hard recently I felt I deserved a treat.
So ... long shower, dry my hair, makeup, dress, heels and jewellery ... from Business to Elegance in the blink of an eye. Well, 90 minutes actually ... but who's counting? I looked awesome and it was time to go and get Pam.
Oh the dresses! Pam had on a gorgeous long velvet number with a lacy back and as I surveyed the reception room from the doorway I saw one lovely creation after another. Every woman was expressing her individuality and every man their similarity. A tuxedo is an awesome thing if it fits right. They were all just so handsome. I caught sight of myself reflected in the window and thought "good choice girly".
Wow! How expensive was a bottle of wine? Goodness. I wanted red and Pam wanted white, so rather than buy two bottles (remember I was driving) we hit the bar and got a glass from there. We were called into the hall and really enjoyed an entertaining evening. And of course food. How could I forget yet more food? Thankfully I'd had been a good 5 hours since I had eaten (remember breakfast and lunch?) and I didn't feel bloated. But more Bacon wrapped Chicken, and I wondered if the caterers were the same ones from earlier!
Guest speaker, Jeremy Vine from Radio 2 - Patron of RideHigh - was excellent and cleverly funny and the presentation by Rachael Medill about how RideHigh helps disadvantaged childen made me realise why I blog for them. I can't wait to get back and see the kids next week after their summer breaks. They've all come such a long way since starting at RideHigh and I'm proud to be helping get their words and stories onto the web.
Some fun trivia games, more wandering around meeting people we knew ... it was around 11pm and I yawned! Goodness ... I could feel my energy starting to wane after such an early start, and asked Pam if she minded us going home. Our other friends at the table had wandered off to the Casino and, as I have no interest in gambling, we went and said goodbye to them, then we were off. Great evening though! Did I mention the dresses?
I was glad to be on my sofa after such a busy day; but I'd done it. Breakfast, Lunch, subscriber update, meeting, dropping off tickets, sending out mailer, an evening at a charity ball. Tick! That's a win in my book, and a very positive day.
I couldn't find anything to watch on TV so was considering going upstairs to bed. My kitten Willow was demanding my entire attention so I stroked her for a while and let her cuddle up with me and purr as I tickled her ears. No point in disturbing her as she looks so comfy.
I smiled at her and *yawn* closed my eyes.
Love, light & logic ... 
STEFFI LEWIS
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