maliewatson

It seems almost unreal to be writing this final post for this blog! I began this year with a list of 100 things to do in the space of the 365 days that this year gave us. Some were very simple challenges or tasks, some were very silly, and others were big life changing goals.

I would be lying if I were to tell you that 2015 was the best year of life – it really wasn’t. I am not one to dwell too much on the past (It’s happened, you can’t change it, only learn from it) but I feel it is appropriate at this point to review the year as it has been.

Before I started to write the list, I considered all the things I wanted to achieve in 2015, where I wanted to go, and what I wanted to change. I incorporated those ideas into the final list. One of the biggest, and to me, most important, was to graduate university.

I will forever remember being told when I was 10 years old that I would never amount to anything, never achieve or develop, and that I was a waste of space, by a learning support teacher. This was bullshit. Having a disability has taught me that the only thing that stops you is your own level of determination. If anyone ever tells you cannot do something because you are different, have a learning or physical disability, or because as far as they are concerned, you’re worthless – tell them to shove it. They are not worth your time. Seriously.

This year and this list have taught me that life has it’s own way of moving, that you can influence but cannot control. And that many things you did not plan for, happen anyway.

I know I said that this year has not been the best of my life, but it has had it’s highlights. Although I didn’t get to travel to any new countries, G did manage to visit three new ones with me by his side. That in its self made up for not being able to visit anywhere new – getting to make new memories with him by my side, in some of my favourite places.

I was lucky enough to graduate next to him, for us to move in together, travel, laugh and to enter and leave 2015 with him as a constant by my side.

Despite the awful experience of loosing my job with no warning, the ending of one opportunity, inevitably, led to the opening of a new one. My new job has allowed me to meet some genuinely fantastic people, push myself and make more coffee than any person could imagine. I can really say that this place has for the most part made my life better (it is hospitality/retail so does bring its bad days) and that my friendships there will endure.

I continue to hold friendships with those I started 2015 with, and I am forever thankful for all six of those girls in life. I would really not get through without them. They know who they are. I leave 2015 with all member of my family still intact (there’s a lot of us) and I am very grateful.

The year however has been plagued by worries over money, over adult life, what I want to do for a career, family illness and a general deterioration of my ability to breathe easily.

Looking back over the list there are a number of challenges that I am disappointed I never got around to, or in the end, ran out of time to complete.

A number of these I am taking into 2016 with me. I have decided that, considering I failed this year, that it is important that I fulfil my charity challenges. I will hopefully within the next few weeks be giving my hair to the Princess Trust, fundraising for SAMH and volunteering for a local organisation.

I also aim to start a Masters course, to continue to push myself academically. I would love to continue blogging, and to share my experiences with those willing enough to read about them.

Like I said, the biggest thing that this list has taught me is that you cannot plan everything and that life will inevitably take over. For this reason I have not come up with a new list. I have goals and will definitely be blogging about them in the near future, and how I do in regards to meeting them.

If I could turn back time and relive 2015, I wouldn’t. It has taught me a lot about myself and about life. I am looking forward to starting fresh, shaking 2015 off and embracing life as it comes. I already know that February may bring some challenges and a lack of blogging as my dad goes through his cancer treatment. I’m more than sure that there will be other negative aspects to 2016 but it is a huge goal to not let these things get me down. 2015 rocked my mental health a little more than I would like to admit, with both anxiety and depression rearing their ugly heads again.

But for right now?

I am getting excited about my new blog concept, planning some travel adventures, enjoying time with my family and creating so many more memories with my friends and G.

The birth of my Godson is imminent and I cannot wait for him to arrive.

I am currently sat in a room full of my family. What a way to bring in the first day of the year.

In the immortal words of one of my favourite bands, let it be.

Visit an Island in Scotland

The main reason for including this one on my list is that despite living the majority of my life in Scotland, I’ve been to a shamefully small number of our islands.

My mum is from the Isle of Arran and I spent eternal summers there when I was growing up, and we return (descend) every year without fail. It remains one of my favourite places in the world.

I chose to visit the Isle of Bute because my mum went to school in Rothesay as there was no secondary school on Arran when she went to high school. I had never been to the island before so it made sense to visit somewhere that had some significance.

Despite the awful weather, G and I had a good time. We explored the island, had lunch, walked around Rothesay and had a good nosey. Christmas presents were purchased and many dogs were seen – a generally good day!

I decided to do something a little different with this particular item on the list, and Vlogged our trip (A vlog is basically a video diary, a video blog of a day, experience, trip etc.,). I have never really vlogged before and it was quite a surreal experience, but oddly enjoyable. The weirdest part is hearing your own voice coming back at you during editing – I sincerely apologise to every person I have ever met for my voice/accent/laugh!

To view the Vlog, jump over to my Youtube channel

 

Go a Whole Week Without Tea or Coffee

There was a couple of reasons for sticking this one on my list. Firstly, I’m a Barista by trade so my life tends to revolve around the consumption of coffee. Secondly, anyone who knows anything about Scottish people will know about their absolute obsession with tea. Tea is basically another food group for us.

I figured that I probably consume far too much of both, with at least a cup of each a day on average, and so this was a good challenge for myself.

As it happens I actually struggle with caffeine because of my heart palpitations, so things like Red Bull and Jaegermeister are off limits to me. With this in mind, I wanted to see the difference it made by cutting out caffeine altogether for a whole week.

Originally I wanted to do this challenge over the summer but with being on holiday, and then everything that went on with my job, I lost track of time and now we’re suddenly in December (?!).

I work 40 hours a week, over 5 days, and at this time of year, it is particularly busy. I also happened to choose a week in which I had several early starts (8am openings) and a Christmas work night out to survive (and recover from) all without my usual caffeine in take.

I surprised myself with how easy I found it. The first few days were pretty horrible and hard to get through purely because of how aware I was that I could NOT have my usual cup of coffee in the morning at work.

However, the hardest part of the challenge was not having a cup of tea after getting home and settled from work, or before going to bed.

The biggest difference I found was that by the end of the week I didn’t even think about having a cup of coffee. I also didn’t have a single chest pain the whole week (although whether I can say this was directly because of not having caffeine or because I just had a good week, I don’t know – I’d have to give it up for a much longer to really test the difference).

My alternative to coffee at work, in my first few days, was our Salted Caramel Drinking Chocolate. I absolutely love this stuff and can’t get enough of it. Seriously if you haven’t been to a Hotel Chocolat Cafe before, you NEED to go. You can buy the grated chocolate mixture in tins from retail stores and online as well. (Nothing like a bit of promotion for your own workplace eh?)

I had my first cup of tea this morning after 7 days and it was glorious.

Here’s a picture of some coffee to finish off this rambling post…

P.S., Here’s the link to the Hotel Chocolat website: http://www.hotelchocolat.com/uk/

Build a Shoebox of Memories

I have always been a bit of a hoarder (although not to the extent that I can’t let go of things). I never think of myself as an overly showy emotional type, but being honest I probably am. No matter my mood – angry, sad, happy etc. – I do tend to fully experience that emotion. As a result of this, I’m a very sentimental person.

I like to keep things. Little souvenirs of past experiences that bring back great memories. So I decided to add this little item to my list so that I had another excuse to keep little mementos.

Knowing that this item was on my list, I’ve kept a lot of bits and pieces, from cinema tickets to cards, to boarding passes, from the experiences that Graham and I have shared over the past year.

I think that it is so important to hold onto good memories and to be able to look over the time, that you’ve shared with someone special, with a smile. I feel that by keeping all of these little reminders of our adventures we will always be reminded of good times, especially as we look towards the rest of our lives and the unknown.

I have literally used an old shoebox to build this little memory keeper. Other than that I only used prix stick and sharpies, keeping it really simple.

I’m glad I put this little number on my list. It made me smile while making it, and having the opportunity to look over some very happy memories that have interrupted a hard year, for both of us. I am entirely thankful that I have someone like G in my life. He is a constant support and continues to make me laugh every single day, without fail.

Visit the Game Masters Exhibition 

This is actually an item I crossed off the list at the start of this year – but then I managed to loose the ticket until I found it hidden in a box earlier this week.

I added this particular item to my list as it tied in really nicely with the dissertation work I was doing at the time.

There is an almost 10 year age gap between my sister and I and so for the most part I spent my childhood growing up beside my three boy cousins. I reckon that this played a huge part in a tom-boyish-ness that I think I still haven’t quite shaken off. 

A childhood of playing Tig, Cops and Robber, Kerbie, Wrestling, and Football means that you can probably kick a ball at my face and I won’t flinch. It also means that I have massive interest in games, and gaming culture.

The exhibition, held by the National Museums of Scotland allowed visitors to delve into the history of video-games, RPGs, and the development of the console. Not only that, visitors were treated to a rare experience – the opportunity to play a huge number of games released between the 70’s to some of the most advanced indie games of the current gaming era.

The exhibition had a magical atmosphere. The space was alive with sound and light. The audience ranged from small children to grown men and women re-living their childhood memories, and everyone else in between.

Among the featured games and artists were several Scottish designers, including Rockstar and the infamous Grand Theft Auto, to lesser known names such as Edinburgh’s own Lucky Frame Studios.

The hyperactive, super interactive experience was one that I was glad I didn’t miss. It really was a feast for the imagination.

*Game Masters was created by the Australian Centre for the Moving Image*

Visit Adventure Gold Island

This was another fun one! I have always loved crazy golf, and will happily take a turn at putting if the opportunity arrises. So with that in mind, and considering I’d never been, I decided to visit Adventure Golf Island. On our way back from our trip to Dundee, visiting one half of my grandparents, G and I dropped by the mini golf, located in Dunfermline.

During the summer, G and I visited Canada. This was a first for G, who had never previously visited outside of Europe, but was the third time for me (having lived there for 6 months last year). While we were there, we stayed in Niagara Falls (Canadian side) for a few nights, and played two rounds of crazy golf. One course involved dinosaurs and an erupting volcano with real fire, and the other wizards and glow in the dark holes. I won both games. So this particular game was pretty high in the stakes, would G finally beat me, or could I hold on to my winning streak?

He beat me. By 1 point. 1 point.

I did get 2 holes in 1. So, really, I won.

We had a great time, but just played the one course inside. It was pretty windy and cold when we visited so avoided the outside course. We’ll definitely go back again, give the outside course a go, and see who the real champion of mini golf is.

  

Walk Over The Forth Road Bridge

The Forth Road Bridge is a 2.5Km long vehicle suspension bridge that connects Edinburgh and Fife. Before the installation of the bridge, the water was crossed via a ferry service that ran for centuries. At the time of completion, the bridge was the longest suspension bridge situated out of the United States of America, and the fourth longest in the world.

This feat of engineering was not the first to grace the waters of the forth, with the iconic rain bridge already well and truly established, operating since 1890.

Despite having lived in and around Edinburgh almost my whole life, and the countless car journeys taken to and fro, I had never walked across it. The bridge has both a ‘walk’ and cycle lane on each side, along with an underpass at each end. This allows you to walk across one side, and back across the other.

At the moment, there is currently a third bridge being built. This third bridge is being installed to help ease the traffic congestion, due to the hundreds of vehicles that cross every day. It is situated on the other side of the current road bridge away from the rail bridge. It look pretty spectacular and it was’t even half built when we crossed.

Luckily for us, the weather played ball. It was looking slightly doubtful if we would get across and back dry, but in fact, the sun came out to play. Shining across the rail  bridge as we crossed over to Fife, and then as we walked back towards Edinburgh, the sun really made a real spectacle of the new bridge.

I’m so glad that I included this item on my list as it was something I really enjoyed doing and is a great walk.

Here is the link to the Forth Road Bridge website, where you can read up on current news and info or delve into the history surrounding the river crossing: https://www.forthroadbridge.org/

Below are some photos that I took while we walked across…

Go Veggie For A Month

This challenge was more for the fun of it, just to see how I got on. Graham decided to join in, and we chose September to be our designated Veggie month. It was much easier for me than I expected, but I think that G found it quite difficult sometimes. I found that I certainly ate more fruit and veg each day than I did normally and felt better for that. I’m not the greatest meat eater as it happens, with my range mostly limited to chicken and fish, with the occasional beef chilli/lasagne/bolognese. I do not eat steak. Or any large chunks of meat as, to be honest, it kind of gives me the ‘heebie jeebies’.

I did try to go veggie a few years ago over the period of lent but I continued to eat fish during that time, so it wasn’t full on veggie. I can cook quite a bit better now than I could then, and I think that helped to make it an easier experience. G is also a great cook and we ate a great range of stuff due to the more experimental plates he offered up.

Although we switched back to our regular diet as the start of October once the challenge had been completed, I do seriously think it is something I could do full time. Apart from when it comes to Christmas Dinner. And maybe when it comes to pizza. Because, pizza.

Here’s a couple of samples of what we ate over the month!

Visit your Grandparents

I included this item on the list because I only ever got the chance to meet one of my grandparents, and thought it was important to revisit my parents memories of their parents and to visit their final resting places.

My mums parents are buried together on the island where she grew up. My grandad George was killed in an accident when my mum was just 11 years old. My granny, Molly, continued to bring up my mum, my uncle and my auntie alone. At the age of 60, she died of Alzheimers disease. Alzheimers was and continues to have no cure and remains a disease that is not fully understood. It is incredibly difficult for me to comprehend what it must have been like to loose both your parents at a young age, like my mum did.

The year my mum turned 60 she decided to remember my granny and help raise awareness of Alzheimers by completing three very physical challenges. The first was to run a half marathon, having never been a runner. The second was to complete The West Highland Way, a 96 mile (154KM) route from Milngavie to Fort William in Scotland. The third and final challenge was by far the biggest and most difficult. She decided to climb to Basecamp at Mount Everest. My older cousin decided to take on these challenges with her to offer support along the way. It took 14 days to climb up and down to and from basecamp of the highest mountain in the world. This included a flight in and out of the worlds most dangerous airport runway. My mum choose these challenges to highlight what you can do at 60 and the extent to which Alzheimers can effect any body.

My dads parents were laid to rest in different places. My gran Helena’s ashes were scattered at the War Memorial Gardens at the Dundee Crematorium. I never met her but it would seem that I carry a look of her, something that was often pointed out to me, especially when I was younger.

My Granddad Richard was buried in 2001, in Panpride, outside of Carnoustie, near Dundee. He was the only grandparent I met. I was only 9 when he died but I have memories of visiting him in his care-home. I can’t sing a line in tune but he used to love hear me sing and dance around his room and to tell him stories. His glasses used to fall down his nose. I remember him as being kind and often thought that he was with his thoughts in another place, forgetting time, lost in memories.

The following photos are of their final resting places…