4 things...and a 10km swim

I'm somewhat lacking in inspiration for a post today - I didn't get a chance to pick up a book over the weekend (honestly! the last time I went this long without reading was when I had norovirus a year ago...). I spent most of the Easter weekend on the house improvement project, with the exception of Sunday morning when I swam NINE KILOMETRES. This is the furthest I've ever swam and part of the training for a 10km open water swim that I will be doing on 28th May to raise money for Macmillan Cancer Support and Mind, the Mental health charity. Blog readers have been extremely supportive of my past two swims, and if you have any spare pennies or would like to know more, then please do visit my Virgin Money Giving site for more information. I'm sure I'll be mentioning it again before the event!

(And yes, we are the poster people for Mind at the Great North Swim this year!)

Anyway, I saw this meme over with Karen at Books and Chocolate (and Fleur Fisher did her own version) and I love these sorts of questionairres (and also love reading other people's answers) so I thought I'd join in. I have to say that my answers are a little repetitive, but never mind!


Four Jobs I Have Had in My Life:

1. Library Assistant
2. Library Graduate Trainee
3. Assistant Librarian
4. Reading Room Supervisor.

All jobs basically to say that with the exception of a summer working for a language school and 3 hours in a call centre (I very quickly decided that I would rather continue with low pay at the library for the summer), I have spent the entirety of my working life in libraries. 11 years this September since I started my Saturday job aged 16.


Four Books I Would Read Over and Over Again:

1. Diary of a Nobody by George and Weedon Grossmith
2. One pair of hands by Monica Dickens
3. Ballet shoes by Noel Streatfeild
4. Brideshead revisited by Evelyn Waugh

[not terribly original choices are they?]

Four Places I Have Lived:

1. Brampford Speke, Devon.
2. Oxford.

Only lived in 2 places, unless one gets more precise and includes the three rooms I had in college. We're about to move to a third place though!

Four Books I Would Recommend:

1. Diary of a nobody, as above.
2. One pair of hands, as above
3. Lost and found by Oliver Jeffers (for younger readers)
4. Nella Last's diaries

[maybe I should add two more so that I don't repeat the above? If so, I'll add two authors - Rosamund Lehmann or Elizabeth Von Arnim...]

Four Places I Have Been:

1. Zell am See, Austria
2. Coniston, The Lake District
3. Trebarwith Strand, Cornwall
4. Polzeath, Cornwall

[decided to go for in the last 18 months!]

Four of My Favorite Foods

1. Cheesy wotsits
2. Coffee
3. Bananas
4. M and S gluten free chocolate cake

[that's the main food groups covered :)]

Four of My Favorite Drinks:

1. Decaff coffee (from ground beans, not instant!)
2. Diluted Marks and Spencer Strawberry, apple and rhubarb juice
3. Diluted Marks and Spencer Apple, beetroot and blackcurrant juice
4. Soya milk

Four Places I Would Rather Be Right Now:

1. Our new house
2. Polzeath, Cornwall
3. Trebarwith Strand, Cornwall
4. Zell am See, Austria

[well, it would be almost anywhere since it is the Bank Holiday and I have been at work, but I'm happy thinking of places we've been on holiday recently]

Four Things That Are Very Special in My Life:

1. My husband-to-be
2. The friendships and kindnesses of the people that I know, both virtually and in the real world
3. My enormous collection of books
4. My health

Four Bloggers I Hope Will Do This Meme:

I'll echo Karen again here :"Oh, anyone who's interested -- I'd love to see everyone's top fours! "