I know what you're thinking

I know what you're thinking.  'She said they'd be another blogpost when she got home; that was on Monday and it's now Thursday - what is going on?'

Thanks for your concern.  Unfortunately my bronchitis morphed into a hideous chest infection, complete with cough, sore throat, fever and I've hardly left my bed since I flew back.  I was meant to be back at work on Tuesday, but I haven't made it in yet.  I have spent whole days sleeping and coughing and it's been no fun at all.  Bed-rest, someone called Benny Lin and copious amounts of water have become my new best friends.  I sound like a husky man who smokes 50 / day and it's not good.  I have cancelled everything this week and feel like I've lost a week.  I tried to make another doctor's appointment for tomorrow, but they haven't got one till Tuesday, when I'm hoping to be better.

The flight home was uneventful.  I flew with United, whom I would not choose to fly with again - actually, they were the only option time-wise, so I didn't choose them! What sort of an airline charges for drinks on a long-haul flight? £7.99 for a tiny bottle of Sauvignon Blanc, which was gone in two sips.  £7.99? When I'd already spent a month's salary on the return trip?! I tried to make small-talk with the girl beside me, but she quickly made clear that she was having none of that, so I took the hint and started reading a book, before sleeping like a baby almost the whole way home.  Two tubes, a train and a walk up from the station, and I was home.  Home sweet home.  Jar Jar Binks was waiting for me (see the first blog post), although he is now safely back on eBay (is there a StarWars fan in your life?).  My housemate had sensibly sought refuge in Malta for the week, but has since returned.

Anyway, in between prolonged sleeps, I've put a few more things on eBay - sold £100 of water purification equipment before I went to the States - this is all for 1st Chislehurst Guides trip to... Iceland ! Yes indeed, having enjoyed a relatively local jaunt to Luxembourg in December 2013, we are now preparing to go a bit further, to Iceland in October 2014.  Twenty Guides, two Young Leaders and six adults.  We are going to meet with local Girl Guides, hopefully see the Northern Lights, spend time in Reykjavik and enjoy an international Guiding experience! Leading groups abroad is extremely rewarding and we are all working hard to raise what we need.  If you are a Leader in Guiding thinking about taking your unit abroad, watch this for some inspiration.

Whilst you're reading, you might be able to help us with the Iceland fundraising.  Each attendee is paying £250 and we are fundraising the rest.  To do this, we are collecting: CDs and DVDs (in original boxes only), some books (let me know if you have some), aluminium foil (washed and squashed), used postage stamps (cut off the corner of envelopes), mobile phones, and anything of value which I can put on eBay! We have also held a Variety Show which raised £890, the bag-packing at Sainsbury's last week raised £550 and we have other events planned.  If you buy things online, you can support us by using easyfundraising, which generates a donation for us at no cost to you. Easysearch is good too - and you don't even need to sign up.  One more thing - if you run a charitable group, you too can sign up for easyfundraising (if you're a Guiding group in LaSER, you are already signed up - Region kindly put all Counties, Divisions, Districts and Units on there, so have a look if you haven't already, as it's free money), but if you run a charity, school, sports club, community group or other good cause which isn't part of Guiding in LaSER sign up here.  What have you got to lose? Nothing at all.

If you're having a clear-out and want to donate anything I've mentioned above, or help in some other way, feel free to e-mail me: helenbb75@hotmail.com or send me a message on Twitter.

Congratulations if you've got this far.  It's been lovely writing for you all - I hope you have enjoyed my observations, anecdotes and constant references to Guiding.  What do you mean you're not involved in Guiding?! Have a look here and get involved!

Thanks for reading.  See you round.  Best wishes from Helen BB x