Give Blood

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On the 24th January 2009 just before my 17th Birthday I signed up to give blood. I had watched my mum and sister give blood and had eagerly counted down the years until I was finally old enough to donate.

Fortunately I have never needed a blood transfusion but I have had friends and family who have and I always thought ‘imagine if there wasn’t the blood for them to have, they wouldn’t be alive now. Someone kindly gave up an hour of their day to donate blood so that they could live.’

Being an advocate for donating blood I was shocked when I realised at the end of last year I had only donated 8 times in the last 10 years! But it helped me realise what my New Years resolution would be. Give Blood more frequently and encourage everyone I know to donate if they can.

The average adult has around 10 pints of blood (roughly 8% of your body weight). Making a blood donation uses about 1 pint, after which your body has an amazing capacity to replace all the cells and fluids that have been lost.

There are eight main blood types but some are more common than others. The list below shows the percentage of donors with each blood type:

• O positive: 35%

• O negative: 13%

• A positive: 30%

• A negative: 8%

• B positive: 8%

• B negative: 2%

• AB positive: 2%

• AB negative: 1%

I myself am A negative which means I do not have the Rhesus factor and I can not have a transfusions from a Rh Positive donor. Except in cases of extreme emergencies. Rhesus (Rh) factor is an inherited protein found on the surface of red blood cells. Having an Rh negative blood type is not an illness and usually does not affect your health. However, it can affect your pregnancy if you have a Rh positive baby.

On my last donation I decided to ask more question and it turned out that my blood is donated to neo natal wards because I don’t have the CMV virus. Newborn babies can only be transfused with blood that lacks the cytomegalovirus.

CMV is a mild and very common virus, similar to the virus that causes cold sores or chickenpox – in fact, around 50 to 60 per cent of adults in the UK have had it.

This reinforced my reason to give blood. I always liked the idea that I had helped an adult but now I knew I was helping to save a babies life it made it so much more. From arriving to leaving in total it takes about 60 minutes and that’s only if there’s a slight delay plus at the end of it you get a free drink and a chocolate bar, if saving a life isn’t incentive enough then surely the prospect of free food and drink is….

I have friends who won’t donate because they are scared of needles, yet they are covered in tattoos. Friends who can’t stand the sight of blood but are massive fans of slasher movies. Whatever their reasons for not giving blood are their own but take it from someone who is a massive wimp when it comes to pain for me the worst bit is the 10 second finger prick where they check your iron levels. The actual donation process is pretty painless, all the nurses are well trained and amazing at putting you at ease.

The only bit I dislike about donation is having to wait every 6 weeks to be able to donate again.

This time I won’t be doing it alone as all 4 Prosecco Sisters will be donating Mrs LP, Miss KP and myself (Miss SP) are all A- and Mrs AP is B- so watch this space for their opinions on donating. http://www.blood.co.uk click the link to register and find your local donation center and don’t forget to tag us in your posts to let us know how you got on.

Love Miss SP xo

Dreaded Christmas Leftovers

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Like many other people I started my 2020 with pure excitement and enthusiasm to eat better and be healthier!

First food shop of the new decade, an easy online shop (obviously actually leaving my house and walking to the shops was too much effort seen as I was about to start my health journey via food and Not exercise 🙈) going in feeling strong and impassioned…..whacking all the veg and salad into that little basket, rainbow colours, organic, tropical and package free!

Soon realising that I have to wait until tomorrow for the healthy food to arrive, i figured it would be cost effective and environmentally friendly to eat the Christmas leftovers….. well, what can I say…… Little Miss LP had a previously home cooked frozen Shepard’s pie and some veg, leaving nothing for myself and Mr P, apart from the dreaded Christmas leftovers, a feast of crackers, cheese, crisps and chocolate, sooo much Chocolate!! Mountains of it, white, Milk, Dark, Nuts…. every variety imaginable, even some old Easter eggs lurking about 🤷‍♀️ At least if I eat it all now then I could really start my health journey with no temptation I thought to myself! But no, behind every cupboard door is more chocolate, every nook and cranny in the fridge is another tiny celebration left over from Christmas, there is enough to feed a bus load of hormonal women for a year…….my New Years resolution is hanging in the balance.

New day, new woman! Food shopping delivered, my kitchen island could be a Marks and Sparks advert, Bloody brilliant! Getting Little Miss LP involved with the cooking is giving me even more motivation and reason to be healthy….. watching mummy, slicing, dicing, helping to stir and season. Together we made soups, cottage pie, salads, fish cakes the lot! Portioned off for the week to make sure we stay on track, Meals filled with all the goodness to make your soul dance, Feeling like nigella, I am winning!!

Then The fridge calls me from the other side of the kitchen, stacks of chocolate waiting to be eaten….. and my willpower disappears as fast as a glass of Prosecco on a Friday night! I now frequently find my self hiding behind the fridge door so Little Miss LP doesn’t witness my bad habits…… chocolate covered fingers and pockets full of wrappers. There’s just no helping me.

I have come to the realisation that for me there just isn’t a bad time to have chocolate, after dinner, in bed, even a little sugary boost before breakfast, I always fancy something sweet. 70% dark by hotel chocolate being my current fave! So my conclusion is as long as I can keep up my healthy eating and motivation to make better meals for me and my little family then I will continue to indulge in the chocolatey goodness that lives in the fridge 😋 What is your guilty pleasure that you just can’t live without?

Mrs LP x

Tap to Tidy

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I don’t know about you, but after seeing Post by Stacey Solomon self titled ‘Tap to Tidy’ I have been addicted.

The aim is to take a picture of an area or room in the home that looks messy, untidy. You then go crazy ass cleaning and tidying, then snap a photo again. upload the first picture onto Instagram stories with the hashtag #taptotidy followed by your new shiney photo and walla, the magic that has happened.

So why have I become addicted? After you have taken a picture, this wave of excitement and determination takes over you, you desperately want the thrill of creating a before and after. You clean every nuck and cranny so you can achieve the perfect clean after image. Upload and find the joy in tapping an image to create something better. If only life was really like that! The award feels amazing.

Is this concerning? I think so, I have never suffered from OCD, never felt the need to keep an immaculate home (apart from that 5 mins before the mother in law calls to say she is on her way round)

I work, I have kids, which means I have to run around after them taking them to clubs, inviting friends over and keeping up to date with their busy schedules! I don’t have time for immaculate and spotless! But lately, since this has come into my life, I have become obsessed, I spend the hours at work thinking about all the tap to tidy images I could be creating right now, instead of being sat at a desk working away, maybe I should off had a sick day to get that cleaning done. I think about missing the children’s swimming lessons just so I can sort the under sink cupboard, or filter through the ironing pile. It then gives me a little anxiety that I simply don’t have time to sort and filter my life like this. A busy life makes tap to tidy so much harder behind the scenes then it does on my story line.

Are we creating an OCD, cleaning addicted era? With so many cleaning inspired Instagram accounts popping up, like the very popular and ever growing Mrs Hinch (@mrshinchhome) it’s hard to not see what products everyone is using, how they are storing there wires, batteries and micro cleaning clothes in all sorted colours for each room or area. I think we all want a part of that life, a nice bright and clean home, fresh for whenever that unexpected visitor turns up. I have released this week alone I have spent several hours watching others clean, several hours more then I have actually spent cleaning (and not in some weird fetish type of way- yuk to that thought, not that type of blog)

What I need to do is find a balance, we all need a balance in life and try not to be obsessive over having a cleaner house then Susan who this week had 18 Tap to tidy’s and noted all her progress in a journal. I’m jealous you have achieved so much cleaning, but not jealous enough to stay up until midnight trying to complete these tasks.

This week, I vow my house will be clean, but not necessarily tidy, and there is a difference! I vow I shall enjoy at least one (but not more then Susan) Tap to Tidy, it just brings me joy. I shall not skip work or clubs or change my life timetable to clean, I will get a good night sleep which makes me a happier person and we will eat healthy as a family.

My conclusion is, I’m making changes but not obsessing over them.

Mrs AP