The John James & Josie Appreciation Thread (Part 222)

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DS Forum Support

07-03-2012

Originally Posted by mi40:
“ HAPPY BIRTHDAY IRISHGIRL

if it wasnt for you we wouldnt be here today xx

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TALLULAH GOSH

glad you all had a good time and lovely posts

majella and michala xx”

[LIST]Admin Notice: This thread is a continuation of: http://forums.digitalspy.co.uk/showthread.php?t=1629415[/LIST]

muddyminded

07-03-2012

wow have I got the first post?

So proud of John James for using his twitter for a social cause!!! Maybe the boy is widening his heart and mind further than his own little world at last!

sbyres25

07-03-2012

Well done on getting first post muddy

HAPPY BIRTHDAY IRISH GIRL

Thanks to you starting the lovely thread it is still here going strong would you ever have imagined getting to Part 222?

Oh oh just looked out the window at work and it's bliddy snowing.

suebloore

07-03-2012

Josie Gibson‏@JosiestweetReply
Retweet
Favorite
· Open
I have txt messages from him to prove that @Marksuttontm is a bully and sells stories on his talent. I'm quite happy to put them out there.

Josie Gibson‏@Josiestweet
To any celebs that are about to be looked after by this man @Marksuttontm be very careful. He is dangerous threatening and under handed.

oh er

andcb

07-03-2012

Originally Posted by suebloore:
“Josie Gibson‏@JosiestweetReply
Retweet
Favorite
· Open
I have txt messages from him to prove that @Marksuttontm is a bully and sells stories on his talent. I'm quite happy to put them out there.

Josie Gibson‏@Josiestweet
To any celebs that are about to be looked after by this man @Marksuttontm be very careful. He is dangerous threatening and under handed.

oh er”

Wasn't he the one who used to go with Josie and John to pa's etc or have I got it wrong

andcb

07-03-2012

Happy Birthday Irish Girl and many thanks once again for starting this wonderful thread.

muddyminded

07-03-2012

Wow its all kicking off today - John's gone all social justice on us and Josies outing celebrity sharks! (their so in synch

) now I think it would be lovely if Josie shared that video too - they can build a bridge through their mutual horror at the things that happen in Uganda!

sbyres25

07-03-2012

Originally Posted by andcb:
“Wasn't he the one who used to go with Josie and John to pa's etc or have I got it wrong ”

I think you're right Andrea, wasn't he the one that was supposed to have sold the story about separate bedrooms.

Last edited by sbyres25 : 07-03-2012 at 11:55

andcb

07-03-2012

Originally Posted by sbyres25:
“I think you're right Andrea, wasn't he the one that was supposed to have sold the story about separate bedrooms. ”

Thought it was

muddyminded

07-03-2012

What the hell is JonnoG on about? Im sorry Snowy I know you like him (kind of) but his friends are getting involved in things that actually matter today and he is acting like a school kid, bitching about someone. I checked his tweets and he hasn't had any hate. I cant help but get the feeling he is talking about Josie but she hasn't said anything

Wendilums

07-03-2012

Originally Posted by muddyminded:
“What the hell is JonnoG on about? Im sorry Snowy I know you like him (kind of) but his friends are getting involved in things that actually matter today and he is acting like a school kid, bitching about someone. I checked his tweets and he hasn't had any hate. I cant help but get the feeling he is talking about Josie but she hasn't said anything”

No I don't think it is to do with Josie, Muddy. He added the tag (broken down) 'no I won't mention ur name so that you get the attention I do fool' ha ha' - Jonno would never get the attention Josie does - it's a sporadic tweet, could be another of his verses from a song even. Don't think we should read too much into it imo

He's just tweeted again. calling 'Neddy' an a**hole. I think he's on about some bloke he follows imo

muddyminded

07-03-2012

Originally Posted by Wendilums:
“No I don't think it is to do with Josie, Muddy. He added the tag (broken down) 'no I won't mention ur name so that you get the attention I do fool' ha ha' - Jonno would never get the attention Josie does - it's a sporadic tweet, could be another of his verses from a song even. Don't think we should read too much into it imo”

Well even if it isn't about Josie, it is quite frankly arrogant and pathetic - he hasn't even retweeted Johns link...I don't like the guy not one bit!

k182

07-03-2012

Can you tell me what johns vidieo is about i had to turn it of when it got to the hospital part it look like it was'nt going to be nice.

muggins14

07-03-2012

It's directed at this person I believe

https://twitter.com/#!/ned17x

muddyminded

07-03-2012

Originally Posted by k182:
“Can you tell me what johns vidieo is about i had to turn it of when it got to the hospital part it look like it was'nt going to be nice.”

Things that matter rarely are nice but I think the film makers kept it relatively tame as graphic images generally switch people off. Basically, there is an evil war lord called Kony who has been running riot in Uganda for 20 years, kidnapping children at night and forcing them to fight in his rebel war (well the boys, the girls become sex slaves) he forces them to kill people they love and mutilate. The wider international community don't care about this because their is no money to be made from war in Uganda and it is not a threat to National security. This is very sad, that we have the power to catch this little cretiin but it is not used because of self interest! So the idea behind this campaign is to make Kony as well known as Hitler or Bin Laden, because when enough people know and care then governments might act. These crimes are just as bad as what happened in Nazi Germany but nothing is done - why? Strange idiosyncratic nature of human beings.....

k182

07-03-2012

Originally Posted by muddyminded:
“Things that matter rarely are nice but I think the film makers kept it relatively tame as graphic images generally switch people off. Basically, there is an evil war lord called Kony who has been running riot in Uganda for 20 years, kidnapping children at night and forcing them to fight in his rebel war (well the boys, the girls become sex slaves) he forces them to kill people they love and mutilate. The wider international community don't care about this because their is no money to be made from war in Uganda and it is not a threat to National security. This is very sad, that we have the power to catch this little cretiin but it is not used because of self interest! So the idea behind this campaign is to make Kony as well known as Hitler or Bin Laden, because when enough people know and care then governments might act. These crimes are just as bad as what happened in Nazi Germany but nothing is done - why? Strange idiosyncratic nature of human beings.....”

Thank you it does need to be stoped and quick glad John is twetting about it maybe it will get somewere and picked up on

TX_Babs

07-03-2012

MeningitusUK Party Reports, Pics, Videos

Originally Posted by CheekySAUCISSON:
“I don't even know where to begin as I'm sure you all already know most of what happened this weekend. But I really had the best, best, BEST time with everyone from the thread (I was going to name everyone but I know I would accidentally miss someone) and those who knew OF us (our reputation preceded us – spesh me and Flakes) were flippin' lovely!!

I was so so so worried that people would hate us or be mean but everyone who talked to us was so warm and welcoming – even when they realised who we were Paranoia struck the night before as I was packing .. that I wouldn't be what anyone expected and I'm not sure if I am or not but I was stressing as so many things were going wrong the night before. First of all my printing palaver of my ticket which took me over 45 minutes to print off (as the printer was playing up) and the small ticket came out A4 size! Then it took me over an hour to track down my camera charger which was eventually located in my sister's bedroom – grrrrrrrr!But the biggest GRRRRR was ruining my pretty outfit that I had bought especially for the night and been so looking forward to wearing. I spilt silver nail varnish right over it

Friday night I had a small attack of the nerves but I was much more excited to meet people (finally in person) that I have spoken to for SOOOOOOOO long! Sarah (@smoody20 on twitter) picked me up at 10.30am and we chatted away like we'd known each other for years – she only lives 20 minutes away from me so I'm sure I'll be seeing her quite regularly now. It only took us about 1 and a half hours to get there so it was a quick and chatty journey. We even missed out exit because the big black cloud hovering over Bristol opened and the heavens opened.. so we couldn't see the road signs clearly.. thankfully we were able to turn around in a couple of miles. Then the sunshine came back – I swear we had 3 seasons all within 3 minutes (and 4 including the sleet/snow/torrential rain and wind on the way back today!)

Sarah and I checked into the Almondsbury hotel (pretty much right next to the Social club where the party was) and unloaded all our luggage into our room.. I barely spent any time in that room and didn't even have a sleep in that bed!!! (more of that later) So I paid (well.. I haven't given Sarah the money yet as we are sorting that out later) to chat all night in the hotel lounge (to be continued soon) by this point we were starting to get hungry and I had arranged to meet up with our ladies for lunch. So I phoned Phil to see where she was and then Flakes .. it was only after I had chatted to her on the phone, I hung up and thought SHE'S YOUNG!!!! Pretty much everyone who met Flakes all presumed she was a much older woman when she's only 24!! (sorry, if I'm saying too much Flakes!!) I didn't think you were ANCIENT or had lived when dinosaurs roamed the Earth or anything like that but because of the typo in your DM.. where it added the -n to 'so' I thought Flakes had a son as she had asked me if it was me in my twitter profile pic or one of my kids!!!

Next door to the hotel there is a pub called The Swan (which freaked me out after my traumatic encounter as a 3 year old!!) where a big group of us went for drinks and lunch. I ended up being there about 5 hours but that is mainly because it took over 2 hours to get my meal (which was only a chicken mayo sarny and chips.. and came burnt I might add!!) Pumpkin/Kirsty was ready to fire at one of the worker's as we had ordered at the same time and so many people that ordered their lunch after us got their food to them farrrrr quicker! I started off sat with a large group but there wasn't enough room to seat everyone at the table and I wanted to sit with our threadlets as they hadn't met us in The Swan yet..Lots of people seemed to know who I was which is strange that people know about you and then they have to give you their twitter name.. and then it finally registers who they are too! A number of the group were all very complimentary of my blog which floored me as I had been fully anticipated being raked over the coals.. but everyone I met really was so kind!

It was so lovely each time one of our threadmates walked through the door as it put me more and more at ease and it was instantly like we'd known each other forever!! All greeted each other with huge hugs (spesh Jan and Phil) – Phil was hilarious as she gave me a massive cuddle and then asked 'Where's Cheeky?' not realising she had only just cuddled me!!! Love my Phillypops I don't know where the time went sat in there nattering away and waiting and waiting and waiting for our food! Sometimes it did feel like we were excluding ourselves slightly because there wasn't enough space at the main table so we sat at the table behind at the window and all squeezed round! Claire (Hairy) is the cutest little thing and her gorgeous Geordie accent makes me want to gobble her up! Wendy woo woo is just wonderful as everyone would imagine. I have decided that our Vicky's are just misunderstood but they are so funny and refreshingly honest. Dolly is a Scottish sweetie and I hope I didn't make you feel too tall! Phil and Jan are totally the way I expected them to be and just lovely in every way. Kirsty is feistier than I would have believed and I LOVED THAT and again it is like I'd known her my entire life! And my Flakes.. meh!! She's alright … for a deluded weirdo I s'pose Nah, she's my pretty partner in crime and we laughed so hard and talked about EVERYTHINGGGGG under the sun.

I did feel for the poor bloke taking our orders and serving our food when it finalllllllly was ready as it was his first day and they are clearly not used to having so many people come in at once. I think there were around 30 of us that all rocked up for lunch there and we later realised that the chef walked out as he couldn't cope with the demands of making lunch for so many ladies And I would have probably done the same! The guy who brought out my burnt sandwich after the eternal wait was so apologetic and I think he just couldn't wait for his first ever shift .. from HELL to be finished!! We did spend a long time in the pub together before people began leaving to have a nap or get ready for the party. When it was time for Wendy to love and leave us that was sad as it felt like she'd only just arrived.. wish she could have stayed for the whole event!

Me, Flakes, Welshy, Deana (and I know I'm forgetting a few others here, forgive me!) stayed til about 6.15ish chatting away before we figured we should probably go get ready for the party. MORE IN A COUPLE OF HOURS as I'm exhausted!! :sleep:”

Originally Posted by CheekySAUCISSON:
“After we had made ourselves up for the party I met flakes and some of the lovelies in the lounge bar of the hotel for a drink and a chat.. then we made our way over together. I wore heels especially for Dolly (not that they make much of a difference!) so it was a bit treacherous trekking through the mud in the shoes (that are a size too big for me as it is!!) but at least we arrived without falling flat on our ass/face in the mud. I joked with Flakes if she had landed face in mud she could take a photo and tweet it to Muddy saying for her to move over – SHE was the new Muddy

At this point, I was getting butterflies again realising that I was finally going to meet one of the halves that made my summer of 2010 so special.. and one of the J's who I will be forever grateful to for bringing this bunch of loopy, loving and loud ladies into my life I think I said at The Swan I was going to jump Josie when I met her (but not in a sexual way) but decided against that I didn't want to break her other ankle! It was starting to sink in that soon I would be in the same room as that bubbly Bristolian who I have grown to love and care about so very very very much.. to the extend where it feels like she is a relative!!! It must be weird and daunting for people that Josie has never met before to come up to her thinking they know her after watching her for so long on BB.

Lots of the night is a blur because it went by so quickly.. TOO quickly and I enjoyed every second. I know I will leave out things I want to say so there will probably be tons of PS posts over the next week or so! The hall was packed and I can't remember the exact number of attendees I think approx 130 but it was nice to see the place so full of people. I didn't eat a single thing from the buffet as I was buzzing MORE than Corin and just enjoying myself too much! There was no big fanfare or red carpet welcome for Josie as she attended as a guest so she was able to just sneak in unannounced. I turned around and first spotted her having photos with her brother Harry.. (this was towards the back of the hall and our table was right at the front on the right side) and had to double take as I didn't think it was her.. I think it was because she was far away but she looked a lot shorter than I had imagined. Blue really IS her colour and I even noticed she had an actual shoe on and not a flip flop!!!!

As the official proceedings got underway, poor Josie hobbled her way to the front of the hall (having forgotten her crutches! And there is a.. I don't even know how to explain it.. like a sparkly glow of happiness that surrounds her like a bubble or an aura.. I know what I mean but don't think that makes any sense!) to give a short, sweet speech thanking everyone for coming and explaining why this cause is so close to the hearts of her and Harry.. I did think she was going to well up at one point, she seemed overcome at the love and support that was there for the charity. I managed to catch her eye while she was at the front and she beamed that million watt smile over in our direction. I know everyone gushes about how gorgeous Josie is when they meet her but seriously..... WHOA!!! That woman is hands down the most breath-taking and jaw-dropping-ly beautiful person I have ever seen and much more so in the flesh! (So all this crap that John was too good looking for an 'average' girl like Josie infuriates me all the more now.. Josie IS a stunner and more than on par with John in the looks department.) And she really is oblivious to a lot of things happening around her sometimes.. she was stood right by the stage and one of the guys was calling out to her on the mic but she wasn't responding just smiling away. I was stood nearby so told her what they had said and she laughed as she hadn't heard a word!

Our table was made up of our threadies! And we all had such a giggle throughout the evening and even the pain from my heels couldn't spoil my fun Flakes and I got the shoulder shuffle out in John's honour .. we couldn't NOT, no party is complete without those moves! Now I won't remember the order of things happening but Ben made a little speech about something something shortly after Josie announced him as the special surprise guest (which I had fully guessed and told others earlier in that day – some others thought it could be Marlon) with Ben I found myself more not listening to what he was saying but WATCHING and observing him and his comedic mannerisms. I know comments have been made about Ben's remarks about John and Josie during BB and after.. and I understand where everyone is coming from, totally but it was impossible for me not to be amused by him or find him funny. As much as you dislike someone they can still crack you up so much! As he made his way through the crowd to the front of the hall all I could see was his crisp quiff stuck up and that was a source of many jokes between our table.

I fully blame John and Josie because I just had their impressions of his head nods and ear 'what what's' going through my mind and how they would laugh about it together for hours and rip him relentlessly!! Flakes and I were able to have a lot of banter with him during the auction as he was right next to us. I thought he wouldn't be a good sport about the way we were winding him up but he seemed to actually enjoy the bantering and quipped back with us. I'll repeat my tweets about him and anything else I can remember.

The first time I saw his head nod I COULD NOT BREATHE for laughter! And decided that for craic I had to pinch his bum and have a photo with him while we did the ear impression. When he had stopped bleating away I told him I loved him (he blanked me as then he had to resume his auctioneer role).. which was purely a result of the sugar from my lolly and adrenaline .. I don't love Ben.. I don't even really like him but I couldn't help but find him funny. Me and Flakes were taking the mick mercilessly throughout the auction and I kept calling him Benjaminge. I almost bid a photo of a Welsh rugby team accidentally when he turned around and I thought he just wanted to talk to us. Ben said to me and Flakes that we could put it in our bathroom so I made out I'd rather have a picture of him for my bathroom and he joked that would be much cheaper!! Then we ribbed him for bigging up Ed Sheeran's album when he didn't even know the name and I got him to admit he hadn't ever listened to it. (Ooooh and before I forget, later in the night I asked him to sing Goldfinger for the karaoke and he said he would play it on the keyboard, alas there was not one!!)

After the auction was over we had our photo with Ben doing the JJJ Ben ear's impression! (I'm not sure if he noticed this or not... Flakes? What reckonest thou?) And I told him I was going to pinch his BUM while pinching it and he replied later with a double cheek kiss. WHO DO I THINK I AM?He really is superrrrr touchy feely – whenever we walked past he would like rub our shoulder or something and I would see him with a different cougar each time I turned around. When we went to the toilets, we passed Luke and Ben. Ben joked for us to watch ourselves so I told him to watch himself and then seconds after Flakes walked straight into a wall!!!!! Oh and during the auction Josie bought a new bench for her Aunty Kay and mentioned the BB one in passing.

I think Alonestar was good.. I hadn't really heard his music before but he had a lot of fans in the house who were drowning out his voice or I just wasn't paying much attention.. as I was in la la land! Little Ollie G was there and he is a really talented kid – they sang a collaboration.. don't ask me for song names or anything as I wouldn't have a clue! But the singing went down well as did karaoke later in the night (one of the last songs was Don't stop believing which we did a bit of a stage invasion for!) Other songs of note: Dynamite which we danced our tushies off to (which we requested) and I can be your hero by Enrique Iglesias.

Didn't win anything in the raffle but Flakey did – will let her tell you! Lots of tickets were sold for the raffle and the auction was very successful too with some big bids for some great gifts. Me and Flakes had our heart set on winning the spa trip in the raffle but it was in the auction instead

I was sooooooooooooo excited to meet Josie I thought I was going to get emotional and cry so everyone to say I was drunk if that happened which thankfully it did not!!! (Even though I don't drink alcohol so didn't touch a drop last night.) Lovely Jan pulled me over to meet her as time was getting on and I didn't think I would get to have a cuddle. I can't remember what I said because there was so much I wanted to say to her about how much she meant to us etc etc.. but just babbled at her saying how much I love her and had wanted to meet her for so long. I was hoping I would be cool and composed but I gushed at her like a fan girl that she was so beautiful I wasn't going to have a photo next to her as I wouldn't look good and she told me 'don't be silly!' She really focuses her attention on you when you speak with her and makes you feel like you matter. I remember her telling me she loved my cheeks and smooshed them! And kept saying 'aren't you cute?' she asked what my twitter name was (so I think she is wary now of new people which is totally understandable) when I told her she smiled and oooooh-ed that I was a saucy sausage! It was like an out of body surreal experience to meet someone I care a hell of a lot about in real life and have spent so much time watching on tv and clips etc.. it feels almost as though she's a relative or something.. it must be strange having people she's never met before feeling like they know her (shorter than I expected) Had a few little cuddles and pics with me grinning like a Cheshire cat yet inside feeling so inferior with her prettiness!

We danced a lotttttttt even with Jose in our circle on the floor for a bit .. she did a one-legged hop dance which I tried to copy! The strippers I thought was going to make me cringe but actually it was a laugh as it wasn't serious and they made it a funny routine spelling out DONATE on their butt cheeks.. which I read as DOUGHNUT first! Harry's shirt landed in my hand as he threw it out in the crowd.. I didn't make a jump/lunge just held my hands in the air to see if I could catch it and whaddyaknow? :P Harry is hilarious but the biggest flirt everrrrrrr!

We went outside with the smokers for some air and Josie told a group of us that her Aunty Kay hadn't seen her smoke before! We reminded her she would have on BB but Josie forgets that!! We had a couple of lines of communication with Josie throughout the night as we bumped into her at the bar briefly and in the girl's toilets with a big congregation in there. I know I have forgotten a lot from the party but will keep posting as and when I think of anything I left out but it was a brilliant brilliant night!!! Credit where it is due for Den and those who helped organise the event as they did an amazing job to make it a fun evening for everyone. They worked their butts off and I hope they feel like it was well worth it

Josie gives so much of herself.. she is generous big-hearted, loving .. and makes you feel instantly like a long-lost friend and makes you feel completely comfortable in her presence (which is rather mesmerising). I think she had a great night too and made time to see as many people as she could but towards the end of the evening she seemed in quite a lot of pain with her ankle.. as she had been hobbling about up and down all around the room and dancing away! I hope I get to meet her again and that ONE DAY I will meet John toooooooooo.

I will DEFINITELY be going to more meet ups now I know they aren't scary and that although we acknowledge and embrace our weirdness.. our threadies are not psychos so I will be sad not to see them and hope we can get together more regularly. I have a lotta love for them all, they really are fabulous people.. and even people we thought were going to HATE us were so nice! As me and Flakes stayed up talking allllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllll night with Katie, Voddie, Hazy and Cathy I was exhausted and looked gross gross gross when everyone came down for breakfast. I did intend to go to bed about 3am but when we realised it was 5am we didn't see the point in going to bed at all. It was so nice to meet other people from twitter too like Nimz and Pas and PurdeysMum etc etc I don't want to list more as I will miss many. I was really sad to leave and say goodbye to my now REAL-LIFE friends Will put photos up on twitter tomorrow but I don't have many xxx”

TX_Babs

07-03-2012

MeningitusUK Party Reports, Pics, Videos

Originally Posted by CheekySAUCISSON:
“My piccies are up for anyone who follows me on twitter Need to have a power nap now back on later xxx”

Originally Posted by k182:
“Cheeky's photos i dont know if they will work

https://twitter.com/#!/CHEEKYYYsausa...459008/photo/1

http://yfrog.com/0c71elj

http://yfrog.com/5iu3ojj

http://yfrog.com/ca0kpzj

http://yfrog.com/16hyv9j

https://twitter.com/#!/CHEEKYYYsausa...593152/photo/1

http://yfrog.com/0htqe1j

http://yfrog.com/j4lip0j

http://yfrog.com/g15i5uj

http://yfrog.com/caeiq9j

http://yfrog.com/mjx0szj

http://yfrog.com/niwfj

http://yfrog.com/03szu4j

http://yfrog.com/nk2q3j

http://yfrog.com/j5r72xj

http://yfrog.com/1f9jt5j”

Originally Posted by robswifejan:
“playlist link for muckers' party

http://www.dailymotion.com/playlist/...1#video=xp8c0l

much love jan xxxx”

Originally Posted by robswifejan:
“Morning everyone
My head is STILL mush but I’ll have a go.
part one.......
The build really started for me on twitter the day before ,reading Rhii’s preparations for the weekend…hair dye 15 mins to go….followed a while later by ….my god I look like an umpa lumpa.I assumed she was talking about her hair colour but in fact she was talking about her fake tan as she was doing both.pmsl.She looked lovely btw.
The journey by train went like clockwork.Rob’s final words to me when he dropped me off at the station were “Have a brilliant time and give Josie my love” and I’m very happy to say I was able to do both .
When I got to Bristol Rhii was on the platform to meet me.I say waiting….I had to brace myself when she ran to meet me or we would have both fallen over.Brought a tear to my eye…a real Brief Encounter moment.I’m so glad my head is still mush cos I can use it as an excuse if I miss people/things out or get it wrong.Cathy H was sitting with a load of luggage and we waited for Jen and Haze to come back (smoking kills you know).Then 2 taxis and a short ride to the hotel.
Met too many to mention and probs miss people out .Suffice to say after eventually finding my room I then joined everyone else in “voddie’s bar” in her hotel room….. And we saw the lovely digital photo frames that she’d sorted for us all as a thank-you to the organisers Den,shezha and cazie .At some point we moved on to the very convenient pub ,next door to the hotel ,called The Swan.
To be cont’d ….

much love Jan xxxx”

Originally Posted by robswifejan:
“thanks guys sorry I haven't read through everyone's posts I'm trying to upload stuff

I took a photo of the raffle prizes
http://twitpic.com/8satnq

much love Jan xxxx”

TX_Babs

07-03-2012

MeningitusUK Party Reports, Pics, Videos

Originally Posted by gussiecat:
“Okay then I will start.
Set off and managed to get the train, so 1 up on Hbear straight away. Figured out I would join Vixx's train at Birmingham so completed the journey with her. Got to Bristol Parkway and waited to meet Snowy who had managed to miss a train and get off at the wrong stop. (Note Vixx and I did not do this!!!) Anyway, Snowy turned up looking absolutly gorgeous , fresh faced and smiley. And YOUNG. Who'd have thought that eh? We decided to got to the pub straight away to meet the gang in the pub,start as you mean to go on.
We walked in and it was lush to see the JJJAt gang. Everyone felt like old friends and hugs were given out in a devil may care attitude. It was lovely.
Cheeky is the tiniest cutest sweetest thing everrrrrrrrrrrr, with loads of energy. Her and Snowy hit it off straight away and I am not sure if they paused for breath. Dolly was legs eleven and GORGEOUS, and hilarious too. Wends Yay was there and was just as I imagined soft voiced and lovely. Phil and Kirsty were lovely and sweet. My fellow Geordie Claire was amazingly slim and shy but just what I imagined, a great girl.Lyn, Deanna and Marion were sat separately but were quietly chatting in the corner.
I had a scary moment or two. One was when jan asked if I was the cat or the Fox and I said I was the Cat, she kinda went Ohhhhhhhhhhhh. ( Am I that bad?) The other was when someone asked my threadname and i panicked and replied Vicki, I was going to say Carole to protect myself. I did hear others asking thread names but I kept a low profile.
Everyone was graet and chatting away. Wendy claims Vixx and I are quiet. We did tell you we were. I think its more that we are quietly witty rather than flamboyantly wild.
Drank copious amounts and was feeling well oiled when Dolly, Vixx and I decided to head to our hotel, which I assure the girls was only 2/3 minutes walk away. Slight miscalculation. It turned out to be one of the funniest half hours ever as I ( god knows why I was in charge) ked the girls along a dual carriageway , under the M5, and over motorway slip roads to our hotel. At one point jumping barriers was considered, however we were limited by the fact we were all trailing suitcases. I had to stop several times as the laughter got too much and wee was imminent! Nevertheless I got the girls safely to the hotel, where we now only had 45 minutes to get dressed.
More later”

Originally Posted by gussiecat:
“Part 2
The girls , well Dolly made we wear a dress which led to a catastrophic wardrobe malfunction as I hadnt tied the neck tight enough and as i walked through the hotel, my dress slipped and bra was showing. Luckily it was black like the dress.
Any way dress sorted we arrived at the venue and found that Bear, Phil and Kirsty had us sat at the front of the place,!! On display. EEK
Unfortunately due to our trek and dressing time , i had sobered up and was suffering from a cracking headache. Must have looked a right miserable cow for most of the night but couldn't even drink through the pain. Sorry ladies.
Vixxen and I were outside partaking of some fresh air when, Josie arrived. Josie, it has been said before and I will say it agin was absolutly stunning. She really is very , very pretty with a gorgeous smile. She had arrived with some friends and as she walked up the steps she caught my eye but I shyly looked away. She went in and we heard the cheers. Josie was great, she said a little speech welcoming everyone and thanking the support for the charity and commented on how friendships had grew from the "whole thing". She then said she had a special surprise which was BEN!. OMG, He is hilarious. He is just like he was on the show, bobbing head and h'amazing structured hair.LOL. He even had a lovely pocket hanky. Dapper. Ben was asked to help with the auction, top moment was when he held an ED Sheeran CD and obviously had no idea who it was. He said he had never listened but knew it was great. The auction went well and a lot of money was obviously raised.
I did bump into Ben several times, he put his hands on my sholders,squeezed and said hello, how are you. Charming! But no I was not excited by this turn of events. Unlike Cheeky who I thought was going to cry with excitement. LOL
On another fresh air break, Vixxen and I bumped into Josie who said hello and again we were too shy to say anything more than hello back. Josie was great , though as she worked the room.
Luke was there, and I have to say he is lovely and tall and good looking. Him and Josie appeared to be really connected and several times they had little dances and looked like they shared the same humour.
More later”

Originally Posted by gussiecat:
“I shall continue.
The part of the evening I was dreading came with the arrival of the strippers.Fortunately this was a bunch of lads and a man who were mebers of families and friends. This was funny and not the horror of baby oil i envisaged. Josie had plonked herself down on a seat by me and Dolly when the music first came on and I plucked up the courage to say "Oh no, they are going to come straight for you!" She laughed. That was before the "strippers" were revealed. They were good sports those lads and as Deanna said "bought" one to serve our table. Trouble is we didnt know what to do with him. It was very disconcerting I must say to turn around and have a brief clad crotch in yr face or Harrry's naked bum jiggling in front of you.
As Cheeky said her , Snowy and myself had a photo taken with Josie. Cheeky and Snowy demanded the thumb pose. Josie said" Great Victoria Beckham has the pout, I have the thumbs" I replied "Its okay I will do the Angelina leg" Again she laughed and said " I love the leg" and promptly used her broken leg to demonstrate " It doesnt have the same effect. It was funny as her Aunt Kay left and josie tried to hide the ciggie she was smoking, We laughed and reminded her of BB " Oh yeah I forget I was on there was her reply".

I have to say I wouldnt like to be Josie as a lot of people photographed her every move, even when she was talking to other people,

As I was partaking of more fresh air Josie left with her brother and Ben with a quick shout to Luke to get the car.
We left not long after as I was getting my second wind.
I am so pleased I went , met my lovely threadmates, met Josie (kindof) and would like to thank Shezha, Den and co for agreat night. They did work really hard throughout the night and didnt get much chance to relax.
A fantastic night.”

Originally Posted by DeanaLou:
“Good evening to everyone.

I cannot beat Cheeky's write up but I have to say first and foremost, the folks who post on this very, very special thread are the most friendly, sincere and loveliest ladies you could ever wish to meet.
We have life experiences in age, maturity from those of younger years ( Snowy & Cheeky), Gussie and Vixx are hilarious and we have integrity (when it is needed), honesty of thought and a compassion for others feelings and opinions. The latter stood out during the day and night.

Secondly, Den, Shezha and their event team worked so hard to arrange the night and it was a great success for Meningitis UK fund raising.Sincere Congratulations to them.

Thank you Jan for organising our bid for the table butler auction. I think we bagged the right one, myself, G string and dickie bow apart.................
Phil is a real party animal

There was a degree of disappointment on two counts; one I have no need to mention ( but, I have a theory on that) and the second was the surprise guest who was, indeed, Ben. He was funny and just Ben, really. Welshy, your secret is safe with me..................

Josie looked beautiful and enjoyed the night.
The strippers, to be fair, were a collection of Den's family and Harry ( he is a real case but very handsome!!) who had practiced for 6 weeks to present us with the Full Monty Meningitis UK version. It was funny and taken in good humour and only went down to G strings. The lads were then auctioned off as table butlers. Ours cost £30. We are friendly and caring but shrewd with our ££££'s....

If we have a cause for a future meeting and any event within our little community or other () then I would not hesitate to sign up.
Other details will filter through, I am sure but I, for one, am not going anywhere, anytime soon......................

Lastly, Shem et al, I think the plan needs to be a 'Shergar' trip to Oz rather than camping at the UK airports. Phil and Conchie were correct all that time ago......
Sooner rather than later, preferably before the 24th March 2012.

Deana xx”

Originally Posted by NicLau08:
“Hi Deana
Lovely to meet you yesterday
Just to let you know you won two raffle prizes last night-----both alcohol----there wasn't a choice---you were just given a prize.
They are both in the boot of my car at the moment so you'll have to let me know when business takes you anywhere near my part of the country and I will arrange to meet and give them to you.”

Originally Posted by amanda soap fan:
“hi nice meet you snowflake and cheeky and i did come over to your table to say hello but it was very loud where you were so i sat back down at the back i am very shy i didnt speak to a lot of the people on my table either it was nice to put names to faces though and you all look lovely i spoke to the lovely josie she was very lovely but i didnt know what to say ended up saying some think about teeth maybe if i go to the next one i will puck up the courage to say hello”

Originally Posted by Wendilums:
“Would like to give a great big shoutout for Den (Bristolden) and her family, Shezha and co who helped Den put together the Menigitis Party. Loads of money was raised, a good time was had by all, amazing friendships were reignited (all thanks to the fabulous Josie Diane Shirley Gibson and John James Parton). I wasn't able to stay for the evening but managed to travel across for the afternoon and lunch with fabulous ladies. The whole bunch are fantastic, fun loving people, who had a laugh and an enjoyable time. Glad I went to meet them all, unfortunately the hours passed far too quickly. Love them all xxx”

Originally Posted by Cathy S:
“Afternoon all

Loved reading the reports about the party that have so far been posted. I was there but rubbish with words, and no way could I match Cheeky's wonderfull post but have to say that it was a fantastic night, in fact a fantastic weekend

I got to meet again the lovely Phil this woman is an inspiration, god knows how she keeps going, puts me to shame :-o and also Jan between the pair of them they have more energy in their little fingers than I have in my whole body lol, put a lot to shame with their dancing.

It was also great to meet Cheeky and Snowflake, and yes I will admit (and have told her) that I thought she was a woman in her late 40's early 50's they are both lovely young woman that I had the pleasure of spending the night with (not literally) I was one of the ones that sat up all night chatting and boy of boy am I still suffering lol.

I would say to anyone that has not attened any of the parties in the past, even if you are really shy there is no need to fear, everyone talks to everyone and all are made to feel welcome.

I met lots of the guys from on here and twitter and although I didnt get the chance to sit and talk to everyone it was great to at least say hello and put faces to names

Den, her family, Shezha and Cazzie did a fantastic job, and as I have said to a few, much as I loved the party last year in Bristol (for obvious reasons) to me, this one was so much better, I think because it was a more intimate atmosphere, I just had a blast.

Lastly although I didnt speak to Josie, or have my pic taken with her this time have to say she looked stunning and had a smile on her face from beginning to end.

So looking forward to the next one xxx”

TX_Babs

07-03-2012

MeningitusUK Party Reports, Pics, Videos

Originally Posted by vixxen17:
“Okay....................Well let me begin by saying I have been a Big Brother fan since the very beginning and I have never once been to any sort of P.A or been to see any housemate anywhere, ever. So I did have to wonder if I had gone a bit crackers when deciding to go to Bristol! However I was so determined to meet all of the lovely people I talk to on here and twitter that I had to take the plunge and do it.

I did have a massive confidence crisis half way through the week when I got it into my head that I was meant to be a sort of court jester and very entertaining and people were going to be hugely disappointed. (They probably were!) A big thank you to all of you who gave me a cyber slap around the face and sorted me out!

I set off from home, very nervous and was relieved when I was joined by my partner in crime Cat in Birmingham. Suffice to say for the rest of the journey the ears of various hateful loons will have been aflame. When we eventually arrived at Bristol, Snowflake was in mini crisis having gone to a different station so we waited for her, was shocked and a felt a bit inadequate when I saw how pretty she was but I have forgiven her. Then we headed to the pub to meet the others. I will not lie, at this point I was a little bit terror stricken! I have never been backwards in coming forwards in my views I have always said I refuse to condemn anyone on a situation I know very little about and have been very scathing of others who have! Thought briefly about denying ever being on DS or twitter then decided I was being silly. I was being silly! The atmosphere in the pub was brilliant. I was so pleased to meet the people I speak to most days at length!

Firstly, Phil and Jan, two lovely ladies I read day in day out when I was a lurker and who turned out to be even nicer face to face. Claire and Kirsty who have helped me in many of my crisis point meltdowns on twitter. Lyn (who of course I knew) Deana and Marion. Cheeky!! Who is one of the nicest diplomatic people you could ever hope to meet and Dolly who without a doubt is one of the funniest people I have ever met! The poor bar manager was in crisis due to the huge influx of orders for lunch so to let him off I let everyone else go first and I just stuck to wine! We sat and nattered the afternoon away and YES I was asked a few times if I was the Fox and NO no one recoiled in horror or rang the police (lurkers) My highlight of course was meeting the lovely Wendy, who was my boss in the absence of The Chef Mrs Lover. She is a truly nice, kind person who can only be described as a wierdo in the loosest sense compared to the rest of us.

To be continued.............................”

Originally Posted by vixxen17:
“So we are still in the pub. At this point I think I would have possibly stayed there if Dolly had not put her foot down and I would have missed the party.:-o We had not been able to get a room at the same hotel as the others and had driven past our hotel on our way to the pub. Cat in her wisdom decided it was only a two minute walk away More like a half an hour walk, with suitcases under a motorway bridge with me in horrendous pain with a stitch from laughing hysterically. Top tip. If you have only half an hour to get ready, don't try it after wine as you end up looking a bit like a badly made up tramp!

Anyway we got to the party which was already pretty packed and discovered Phil had us sat right at the front! The atmosphere was great from the moment we arrived at no point did I feel in any way unwelcome by being from DS or SHOCK HORROR! Someone who is a John fan first who also likes Josie. At this point my head had started splitting (my own fault) and I probably went a bit...........quiet? Thanks to Lyn for providing pain relief!

Josie arrived with no fanfare, like any of the rest of us when I was outside for fresh air, at which point I went a bit I always knew she was very attractive and I don't gush very often but she is actually gorgeous! She has eyes to die for and as others have said just a really fabulous aura about her. We went inside to await our special guest who as you know turned out to be none other than BEN!! This caused a sensation on our table with Snowy Cheeky and myself completely hysterical!

I know there will be people on here who have issues with Ben and I did receive a few strange tweets demanding he be taken to task over events that happened over two years ago. Which of course I ignored as why on earth would it be any of our place to do so? How silly. He was brilliant. He was funny, charming and he seemed genuinely pleased to be there and pleased to see Josie! He was clearly there with no agenda other than support and maybe they have decided life is too short to hold silly grudges? There may be a lesson there!

Best line from Ben in the auction? "Here is a signed CD from Ed Sheeran, who is very popular. A very good CD. I haven't listened to it, but it's very, very good"

Ciggie break.......................”

Originally Posted by vixxen17:
“Now I had heard on #teamgrapevine that strippers were planned for the party. Now anyone who knows me will tell you, I do not like them. I have walked out of places at the very mention there may be one arriving. I will admit to being a bit apprehensive. However the strippers turned out to be a spoof Full Monty act by I assume friends and family of the organisers including Josie's brother Harry. It was in no way cringey and was actually very funny and they had clearly worked hard at the routine. Hats off to them

So for all the oh so charming people mocking this on twitter, and you know who you are (I can't read what you are saying as you are borderline illiterate and swear too much but I got the gist) You look very silly once again.

Now Josie! The girl can move broken leg or not! She danced, had a laugh and was very friendly to all. I only spoke to her briefly we said hello and she asked if I was having a good time. I wish I had said more but sadly, as Snowflake has said I didn't want to make her feel awkward. She has never seen me at an event, I don't tweet her so I could have been anybody. We all know that if it's not clever individuals going or pretending to go to events to mock her and anyone else to make themselves look important, it's people going to grill her so they can slate her later to show "loyalty" to her ex boyfriend. Who they of course just see as a son, nothing more.

A pretty pathetic turn of events really. And so sad that anyone thinks this is acceptable adult behaviour. But I digress.....

Luke arrived later after going to pick up Ben and he seems like a nice bloke. No they were not all over each other They were just like any other couple at a party where one knows most of the people and the other doesn't. Josie mingled Luke chatted to others and they met up and had a bit of a dance at various times. Pretty standard stuff!

The night was beginning to wind down and we were trying our best to help Harry who had maybe had one too many and was still in his thong! Josie came over and apologised to us on his behalf (there was no need) and then game him a bit of a dressing down, all in sign language and I think by the look on his face he understood a grand total of NONE of it! Josie and Luke then had to bundle him in the car and take him home! He is very lovely and I couldn't help but feel so sorry for him, he will have suffered on Sunday

Once again!...................”

Originally Posted by vixxen17:
“At this point we mistakenly thought the events were coming to an end so Cat rang a taxi. Wrong! Snowy had suggested Dynamite and everyone, and I mean everyone was up and dancing! Jan in particular made quite an impression on someone! Our taxi had arrived then so Cat, Dolly and I left meaning we missed don't stop believing! We were tucked up in bed gossiping by about 2am unlike other naughty girlies who stayed up all night! (seriously, I would be dead now if I had tried that)

I would like to say a massive thank you to Josie, Ben, Luke, Harry and the rest of the "strippers" But most importantly to the organisers of the event Shezha, Cazie and in particular Den. Den had clearly worked so hard on the whole thing and was pleased with the result. Now I know Snowy has already said something along these lines but when has that ever stopped little old me?

Den has taken some stick in the past on D.S and on twitter but each and every one of us and any lurkers needs to ask themselves would they do any different for a friend? I know how angry I get when I hear about friends from here being the subject of nastiness so I can only imagine how she must feel sometimes.

What has actually happened when silly girls and sillier middle aged women think it is acceptable to tweet abuse, hurl insults and generally be evil over someone they only know in their wildest dreams? It needs to stop right now. You don't know him, you don't know her you KNOW two fifths of f**k all! And before anyone comes charging in bleating about "Johnny gets hate too so that makes my own actions acceptable" Don't bother, go back to adoring. He does sometimes but not half as much as the other way from the same tired, sweary, indirect nastiness and twitlonger crew. And I CAN prove it and will prove it. You would be amazed at the things I have saved in the past.

So kudos to Den, a lovely lady who cares for her friends (real not imagined) and deserves our respect. Thank you for a great night. xxxxxx ”

TX_Babs

07-03-2012

MeningitusUK Party Reports, Pics, Videos

Originally Posted by Vodkagirl:
“hello everyone been a long time since i posted here but came to read snowflakes report cause i met her on the weekend with cheeky and spent the night with her pmsl xxx nice to see lots of people from here at the weekend its nice that we can all be friends which is what this thread always meant besides chatting about john james and josie it was the friendships that formed that still carry on even if people chat in different places like twitter or facebook. Well now that I have remembered my password I may pop in and out if thats ok with you all luv Voddie xxxx”

Originally Posted by hazydazy:
“Hello everyone, I had a great time at the party, Den did a brilliant job, Snowy your post is great and the all nighter with you, Voddie, Cheeky, Katie and Cathy was great fun, hopefully we will all get chance to meet again x x x Luv Hazy”

From Den

Originally Posted by Vodkagirl:
“Hi everyone I have been reading your posts and cried this mornin at snowflakes and then just welled up again at vixens. Think im going right soft in my old age.

I just wanted to say a big massive thankyou to you all you all made the atmosphere at the party not me I just supplied the venue and ahem entertainment lol.

I am still in shock by the amount of people that turned up and supported meningitis uk And yes I would like to thank Josie and John because without them NONE of us would of met or made life long freinds id like to think that we will be doing this in ten years time .....celebrating freindship and raising money for good causes.

I dont think im anyone special just a normal person with a normal family of which i thank my lucky stars every day for. As you all know i have never pretended to be anything other than an old freind of the family and am also grateful to big brother for bringing me back to many of my old freinds from my cranleigh court road days. We have all had such a laugh over the last two years with our memories and for that i will always be grateful. Mandy and I were best freinds all through school and for many years after until i moved away to get married (only 12 miles) but remember in those days we didnt have mobile phones to keep in touch with. We saw each other over the years off and on and it was a standing joke between us that we had had another child in tow each time we saw each other. When she clocked me at the abseil i nearly died with embarrassement that i was there lol but she came over and we swapped numbers and promised to stay in touch this time which has been much easier with having mobiles etc we even skype quite often. I am a very loyal freind and i do and have stuck up for any of my freinds or family that i feel are being mis judged, Believe me my hubby has had to make me tow the line on several occasions lol.

Any way enough of me this message is really to all of you I love reading the thread as your opinions and thoughts are so interesting. Ive never ever dished anyone for supporting both because at the end of the day we wouldnt all be here if it were not for both. I do find it hard when one side hates on the other and i am learning to keep my big gob shut i promise xxxx

please continue being you your all amazing and dont ever forget that special thanks to all that attended and i hope that If i do another one next year more of you will come as i would love to meet you.

Think we may need a bigger hall though

take care and i hope you dont mind me lurking lol xxxx

ps I am so glad that some of you finally met Josie as now you know that she is beautiful inside and out she makes me laugh at least once a day and is always kind and caring she broke her foot and rang me and asked me how my back was?? but thats her all over xxx”

Originally Posted by Giwwy:
“The Muckers Party was h'amazing and I would like to thank everyone who was there for being a great crowd and of course Den and her family who put their heart and soul into making sure it was a fabulous event. Of course the back up team of Shezha and Cazie are as usual sublime. To think we had that much fun and raised shed loads of cash for Meningitus UK. The charities representatives who went round with the raffle tickets were charming and seemed genuinely surprised at how deep the muckers reached into their purses/wallets. I had a fab time and would definitely go to another event. Thanks everyone Muckers truly do rule! xxx”

Originally Posted by Pumpkin1:
“Evening all, just to say that all the posts have been amazing and I too have been through several tissues! Tbh I dont know whether to do my account of events or not really as everything that could be said has been and so very well. An amazing bunch of ladies and a lot of fun was had by all! x”

Originally Posted by pas:
“
Good evening , i've popped on to say hello to anyone i met at the weekend , i had a great time met loads of peeps from here and twitter , all lovely, the atmosphere was great i cant wait till the next one.

I have been reading all the reports , i see we have a few budding writers in our midst, brilliant time had by all and im very happy to read that everyone whatever their personal views could meet up and just enjoy a great time and raise money for a good cause.

As you were.”

TX_Babs

07-03-2012

MeningitusUK Party Reports, Pics, Videos

Originally Posted by NicLau08:
“Part 1 of my report from Bristol. It had to be a poem really. I really have this awful feeling that I have missed someone. If I have let me know and then you will get a verse all to yourself in part two.

So we’ve all been to Bristol and what a time we had
We drank and ate and danced and talked of all things good and bad
And folks we knew from names on threads became a person known
So now when we are reading posts a picture will be grown
We started off on Saturday a big group in the pub
With us and all the Muckers with lots of drink and grub
And our group we all wondered at the reception we would get
Would hard hats be required when we the Muckers met
But they were very friendly and didn’t treat us weird
We could relax, enjoy the peace---twas not as we had feared

At last we did meet Snowflake---the mystery was solved
She’s bubbly, young, and full of life with theories so involved
And Cheeky bubbled next to her diminutive in size
But with a smile upon her face ---a definite little prize
With Vix and Guss(I’d met before) they do dissect the bones
And tell it straight and keep it real in lovely northern tones
Of course they have strange fancies----now Ben is top of those
And Vixxen has a girl crush----admitted now you know.
And then there’s Pumpkin(Kirsty) and Dolly Daydream too
Two lovely lasses full of fun---both pretty ladies too.

And poor old Hairbear(Claire) was there but had a poorly head
I hope she’s feeling better now and not taken to her bed.
And then we come to Phil and Jan who are both a lot of fun
And oh so very, very welcoming, bright flowers in the sun
And then there were our Welsh girls---Marion and Deana Lou
Still wearing St David’s daffodils—another friendly two
They thought they were just coming to stay a little while
But soon decided that they’d stay and party in good style
And then there’s also Wendy who’d come down on the train
To meet with us before the night to make sure we were sane

So all in all we chatted loads and most consumed some drink
Which settled nerves and loosened tongues and made us laugh I think
And later on with Muckers gone we felt we could talk more
Of Golden days and Golden times and hearts that felt so sore
So then we went back to our rooms and dressed up to the nines
And walked down to the party site and waited in the lines
Would anyone be turned away would anyone be barred?
But we were all checked past the doors without our boarding cards
We had a table at the front a really prime location
Close by the stage and near the bar and not the poor relation.

Part 2 to follow”

Originally Posted by dollydaydream81:
“Evening all

So, this is my report on my weekend in Brizzle and I will warn you right now it will be nowhere near as witty or highbrow as Snowflakes or Vix!!
So on Friday morning off I toddled to inverness airport after hearing from Claire she had missed her flight so was hoping my flight might be delayed so I wouldnt have quite so long to wait at the other end! It wasnt but while I was waiting in the lounge I saw Lorraine (lorrweir) who I recognised from her pic on twitter so i went over and inflicted myself on her like I tend to do! So we sat together on the flight and had a good natter! Not sure if you're aware but I can talk for Britain! Anyway she was lovely so that was a cracking start! So after waiting for five hours in the arrivals Claire finally arrived!! . She is absolutely adorable and we clicked straight away she's amazing! Wont bore you with the details on our friday night so onto Saturday!!
So on Saturday morning me and Claire finally made our way to the hotel after staring at a map of bristol with very puzzled expressions on our faces! Arrived at the Almondsbury and met Phil, Kirsty and Wendy!!! Aww what lovely ladies, soooooo glad I had the opportunity to meet Wendy especially as I wasnt sure if she was coming and I think shes an amazing lady! Went to the pub next door and met Cheeky who was just like I imagined just absolutely lovely and happy and positive which is quite rare these days! So we all sat and had a few drinks and food (and in my case lots of cigarettes). Then my roomies arrived!! Not sure where to start with the cat and the fox lol! Well it wasnt the best start when i got called a hound but I wont hold it against them! . What lovely, very funny ladies honestly laughed and giggled so much that afternoon. Especially when we trekked down the motorway to find our hotel! if you're ever in Cats company if she says something is a couple of minutes away she's lying!! So with all three of us desperate for the toilet and very giggly we went off in search of our hotel, across the interchange and down a very dangerous muddy embankment!! Part two coming in a minute!!”

Originally Posted by dollydaydream81:
“Part two

So after risking life and limb to get to the hotel we very quickly got ready to PARTAY! So we strutted down the corridoor not realising that a) my label was hanging out the back of my dress and b) cats dress had slipped down and was showing her bra to the whole bar as we walked through thinking we were the dogs bollocks pmsl!! Sorry Cat but it was frickin funny!! So we cackled about that for a while then got a taxi to the venue! Oh and it turned out our taxi drivers brother was from Forres where I live!!! Can you believe that! Anyway we arrived at the party and got our seats.

So now the party, or what I can remember of it!
Obviouslt took a wee while to settle into our groove lol but I can honestly say it was the best night out ive had in a really long time! Claire, cat, fox, kirsty, phil, jan, cheeky and snowie all of you are amazing women and I'm so glad I got to meet you all!! And surprisingly not too many 'dolly' style moments! Well when the guy on the mic announced who was performing! Obviously i knew Ed Sheerans cousin was performing and not actually ed sheeran but I forgot that temporarily and when I heard the words 'Ed Sheeran' coming out his mouth I screamed so loud I think I burst Cats eardrum pmsl! And clapped manically until I remembered it wasnt actually ed sheeran lol!
Another very embarassing moment was during 'Cha Cha Slide' when I very eagerly 'reverse reversed' right onto Harrys bare foot! Oops a daisy! So yeah that was awkward! :-o
So onto Josie and the 'muckers'. I did think I might get a bit giddy when I saw Josie but thankfully she snuck in so I didnt do anything too embarassing! But I have to say and i hate to sound cheesy but she is absolutely stunning in 'the flesh'. Seriously WOW! Theres definately something about her and I probably sound like a stalker but she's just truly beautiful lol! Lovely skin, teeth, eyes and figure!! Just lovely! So i spoke to her briefly but just left her to it and her and Luke looked very happy too. And I dont care what anyone says about Ben the boy is flippin hilarrious and it's not even intentional he just cracked me up from the minute he walked in! i think he thought he had won an oscar the way he was greeting everyone pmsl!!
Im getting sore fingers now so I'm concluding lol! Before I went to Bristol I did think it might be a good way to get closure on the whole jjj thing but I have to say after meeting everyone i don't think thats going to happen!! I thought the party was fab, there was a lovely atmosphere and Den and her family are amazing to do all that for charity, really lovely down to earth people and wish i got the chance to intersperse a bit more. Does that word exist or did I just make it up? Anyway thankyou to Den and all the organisers and of course Josie and Benjaminge! I have always been a 'reuniter' as some people would say and I'm not changing my mind about that but Im also a wee bit proud of this thread and the fact we can all be so well balanced! Most of the time . So thanks to Claire, Cat, Fox, Kirsty, Phil, Cheeky and Snowie (our wee table) for being so instrumental in my fantastic weekend! xxxxx”

TX_Babs

07-03-2012

MeningitusUK Party Reports, Pics, Videos

Originally Posted by snow_flake88:
“Well, good evening everyone! So sorry to be bringing you my account of one of the most enjoyable weekends of my whole 24 years of life (SHOCKER!) so late, but felt my head was far too mushed yesterday to do it any justice unless I had a clear mind. Or at least after having had some sleep...

As most of you know, my decision to go to Bristol was extremely last minute, after lots of umming and arring and thinking there’s no way I can go to meet a bunch of people from the INTERNET!!! I mean, who does that? If any friend or family member told me they were meeting ‘friends’ from the internet I know exactly what my reaction would have been... “ARE YOU INSANE!” But despite logic telling me that this was beyond weird, there was a residing feeling in my gut that as weird as it sounds, meeting some of the ladies that I have shared so many opinions, thoughts, emotions and experiences with would actually be one of the most natural things in the world! People from different ages, creeds and backgrounds who all watched the most magical and memorable Big Brother that ever was and ever will be...all because of the beautiful and pure relationship and love that developed between John James and Josie. Two people who, as they said themselves, were destined to dislike each other for being so opposite in so many ways...

I will be forever grateful for Wendy, as she was the first to suggest the idea of going to Bristol and helped me to overcome my nerves, fears and dispelled any qualms I had about going. Wendy got the lovely Phil on the case, who sorted everything from my accommodation, to timings and who secured my bed in the legendary Jan’s room; a woman who I’d barely said a handful of words to, but who welcomed me with open arms just on Phil’s word that I was a nice, shy and nervous girl (hahaha, as if!) Lots of lovelies also encouraged me on Twitter such as Penny, who I cannot believe I never got to meet and then once I’d checked there were enough of us JJJAT’ers within my age group going (the dm to Cheeky in which I accidently put an ‘s’ in front of ‘on’, so she thought I had a son!!!), the time came to let friends already attending such as Vixx, Gussie, Lyn, Kirsty, Dolly and Hairy that I was braving it too. The fact we were all as nervous and dubious of the reaction we would receive as each other really helped!

The night before I can honestly say I did not sleep a wink and went over and over how the weekend would go in my head until I’d nearly driven myself insane. Would I meet up to peoples’ expectations? Now everyone knows my age, will my views and opinions suddenly be seen as naive because I wasn’t a woman with as much life experience under my belt as I knew everyone thought I had? We get on and are on the same wavelength online, but how would we all mesh in person? Would factors such as age/ life experience and background now suddenly matter and divide us when they had been completely irrelevant all this time? What if Josie completely hates us because we support John too and therefore ruin the image that I had crafted of one half of the greatest genuine love stories of all time?! With all of this swarming around my head, by the time the morning came I’d already changed my mind five billion times and decided to just get ready and then if I felt I really couldn’t manage it, I could always get back into my jim jams and turn my phone off.

All packed and ready to go and then the best laid plans of mice and men transpired against me! Taxi didn’t arrive until half an hour later than needed. After several arguments with the firm on the phone, the car finally turned up and the driver decided to scream at me that everything was all my fault?!? So I knew I was going to miss my connection at Reading by a whisker, which really angered me, as Wendy and I were supposed to be travelling up there together! So a new plan was devised, I would have to jump on the next train to Temple Meads, as Parkway train wasn’t for another hour and the clever little fox that is Vixen told me just to get a train back to Parkway from Temple Meads and meet her and Gussie there. Dignified, common sense, BRILLIANT! When I finally got to Parkway, having no idea what Gussie and Vixx actually looked like, I hovered like and utter WEIRDO around any groups of women I could see and then had to do the ‘phone’ test when it looked like they were ready to call security. It wasn’t Vixx and Gussie, so I trotted out and finally found them!! Bubbly, hilarious, vivacious, full of life and with just about the same combination of nerves and excitement as me. Off we went in the taxi to meet the others and finally come face to face with all of our dearest friends...

To be continued...”

Originally Posted by snow_flake88:
“Continued...

Cheeky was absolutely right, low and behold some of our reputations had already preceded us and after arriving in the pub and greeting all of the JJJAT’ers with a massively warm hug (shocking half of them that I wasn’t a fossil)...the now renowned Rhi (love her) shouted out ‘Snowflake’ after about five minutes, from the loooong table of Muckers that filled the pub and god knows why but I turned around! So there, I was outted, hehe, there was no hiding behind aliases like Vixx and Gussie! I didn’t turn around long enough to see anyone’s reaction, but surprised by how many people actually read my posts and knew my views better than me! Lots of people can up to me and were absolutely lovely and so once again, rumours and nastiness have caused people to think the majority of muckers hate joint supporters, but I never met a single one! I did not at any point feel intimidated or uncomfortable for being a Josie and John supporter, so for all of those lovely people dm’ing me before I left saying Josie and muckers wouldn’t want JJJAT’ers there and we would feel outcase COULDN’T HAVE BEEN MORE WRONG! So there. No nastiness from anyone in the slightest!!

So, what was meeting our threadlings like? Wendy was just as lovely and kind as I’d imagined and my only disappointment of the weekend was that she couldn’t stay longer and spend the memorable evening with us!! Phil was as cuddly, warm and bubbly as I thought she would be too and immediately I felt as if I’d known her forever. Clairebear and Dolly were stunning and loved giving them a massive hug, but didn’t get a chance to talk to them as much as I would have liked until later on in the evening...when we absolutely wet ourselves!!! Kirsty is stunning and I too could have believed she was 28  Gorgeous figure, a little firecracker!! Phi then introduced me to my room buddy for the evening, Jan, and I loved her from the first moment I met her. She is an absolute diamond and is so full of love, kindness and genuinely does not have a bad bone in her body!! This is when I found out that Phil had told Jan how I was such a shy and nervous person, so everyone was to really make me feel welcome...pa ha ha ha...nervous: YES, shy: NOT A CHANCE!! You couldn’t shut me up from the moment I got there to the moment I got home on the Sunday!!

Was there one person I didn’t mention meeting?? Oh yeaaa....my little Cheeky!! My brother from another mother!! We literally hit it off straight away, are kindred spirits and I felt like I’d spent the whole weekend with one of my best friend’s!!! We were inseparable and little partners in crime! She is hysterical, has an amazing sense of humour, is so astute and I wouldn’t have had half as much fun if we had not been together! Love you!!!! When everyone had gone back to the hotel for naps etc (lightweights!), we sat on our little JJJAT section on our own, as Guss and Vixx kept having fag breaks and chatted about EVERYTHING and it was such a pleasure to talk through our views and feelings! And snap, they were the same!! Then after speaking together for ages, Vixx and Gussie decide the coast is clear to come back to our table (jokes) and brought Lyn, Deanna and Welshy with them!! Yaaaaayyyyy!!! Had no idea they were there and would have been devastated to miss talking to these wonderful ladies. Once again we all had some great discussions, reminiscences and yes spoke about John James and Josie...we are JJJAT’ers after all

After spending from 1.30pm to 6.15pm (way longer than planned) in the pub (only had one drink, it was the enthralling conversations that made the time fly), with my suitcase still standing upright, we all went to go and get ready for the main event. Thankfully Deanna and Welshy decided to stay on for the main party, which was the best news I’d heard so far, as they are h’amazing and how many giggles would we have missed if we weren’t there. Cheeky and I went to get ready in the Almondsbury and I went to try and unpack...as traipsing around with my suitcase for hours wasn’t a good look haha!

After allowing us zero time to get ready (our love for JJJ is to blame), Cheeky and I were ready and down in the lobby by 7.15, were we met up with Deanna, Welshy and Lyn again for a couple of drinks before heading off. By this point I think most people had headed off anyway and the wonderful Phil, Jan, Kirsty and Claire had gone ahead and secured us the best able we could have possible been at!!! After a diva-esque clothes change from Welshy in the carpark ( ) we decided the time was right to toddle over to the venue and settle ourselves for the evening and most importantly we didn’t want to miss seeing Josie arrive. (Cheeky and I had devised a plan we would pretend she was drunk if she cried when she met Josie, even though she doesn’t drink, just to save face!) I didn’t know what to expect, but was soooo excited!!! So we went down the slippery ‘MUDDY’ roads to get there (loved Cheeky’s joke about me becoming the new Muddy, as wearing 6inch heels to hide my shortness was suddenly not seeming like a good idea!). Then the door was in sight and we started queuing to go in....

To be continued...”

Originally Posted by snow_flake88:
“Continued...

So we’re here, making our way through the crowds and tables (soooo many people were there, it was heartwarming to see!), we finally saw our fabulous threadlings hauled up on a table right by the stage...there was no skulking in the background for us...there was no fear of everyone knowing who we were and where we were from..no shameful hiding from us for being a John supporter too...we were front of house for everyone to see!! But as I said, shock horror for a minority of haters, but not a single face I saw seemed to have a problem with us, so woop woop! Cheeky and I had minimal cash as we hadn’t realised the venue didn’t take card (I’m a southerner, sorrrry!!!), so knew we had to spend our money wisely. After all, the double vodka and cranberry that Lyn bought me was extortionate, so I knew I had to use my brain if I wanted to make my £25 strech...bottles of wine for me only it was...at £10 each I was fiiiine!!

Due to the excitement, adrenaline and alcohol the night went soooo quickly and I’m sure I can’t remember half of the amazing things that happened and the laughs we had. But I’ll try for the wonderful ladies who couldn’t be there!

When Josie arrived, it was very discreet and it took Cheeky to point her out to me, as she was quietly having pictures taken from the back forward as she came in and people spoke to her. Josie arrived with her brother Harry and Auntie Kay and it was so lovely to see her with her family!! Josie was wearing the NTA’s dress, I know some people were wondering, and she looked absolutely gorgeous. If you think Josie is photogenic, wait until you see her in the flesh. I am not normally someone who thinks much about how people look and whenever I’d see muckers say how stunning she was I used to think, come on, stop sucking up, how pretty can one girl be. THEY WERE NOT SUCKING UP. She is breathtakingly beautiful, but more importantly it’s because she has an aura that just radiates warmth and you can’t help to be drawn to her (again, like Cheeky says, not in a sexual way, lol) How Josie could not understand how John James would be interested in her is absolutely beyond me and it is heartbreaking that Josie cannot see how truly enthralling she is. You cannot take your eyes off of her! She really is in her own little word and in her own head and seems oblivious to what’s going on around her in a really sweet and innocent way.

When Josie finally got her way to the front, hobbling because she forgot her crutches, she didn’t go up to the stage as there’s no way the poor thing could have walked up the stairs. She had rounds of applauses galore and you could see how Josie is still the same humble and grateful woman she has always been and was so emotional at the support. Not a big-headed bone in her body!! The most emotional part of her speech for me was when she said how much it meant to her that so many friendships had been made from ‘all of this’ and the look in her eyes left no doubt what she was referring to. Speaking about how much Meningitis means to her and her family was also very powerful and reminded you how amazing the event was that Den, Shezha, Cazie, Voddie etc had organised and that this is what people should be focusing on. Before they look to slate or criticise because they’re not Josie fans, these ladies have devoted their time, energy, sleep probably for an incredibly worthwhile charity and for Josie it was not a PA, it was a cause that was close to her heart.

Anyway, can’t remember order of events exactly...but Ben...OMG best choice of a special guest EEVVVEEERR! The laughs he gave us were worth going alone!! You could not have picked a better person to host the auction...his head was bopping everyone...his hair was beyond crisp and Cheeky, Vixx, Guss, Lyn, Dolly, Claire and I could not contain our giggles. Cheeky and I were shameless and were doing impressions of him when he was right next to us throughout but he was such a good sport and was making fun of himself as much as anything else. Although our laughing did nearly get Cheeky and I the prize of a signed Welsh rugby photo, as bless him, he thought we were bidding, but we were doing the ‘what, what, with ears sticking out’ impression at the time. Hehe. Then he was just prancing around everywhere with his suit, matching tie and hankerchief, his brogues and DID I MENTION THE CRISP!!!! We were calling him Banjaminge and he would laugh and then Cheeky even pinched his bum for fun and he told her something about ‘later, later’ hahahahaha!!! What about later on when she told him to do his rendition of ‘goldfinger’ and he said he would if there was a piano, but biggest regret of the night...there was not!!! Then there was our ‘in’ joke, about me pretending I’d fallen for Jonno G just because I got a tweet from him and please do blame Muddy, who’d tweeted me something earlier about him and so when I took a picture of Ben I (in my drunken state) thought it would be hilarious to tweet it and say move over...haha. Then Cheeky said I wouldn’t tag Jonno in my tweet...so what did I do...so, so funny our side of the table couldn’t breathe. And the ‘cha cha slide’...oh my stomach...

I know some people were saying of Ben, ‘oh Josie’s got a short memory’, blah blah blah, and certain John-only fans taking umbrage for Ben’s comments about John...but let’s remember...John was the one in Samuel Dean webcam who said he didn’t have a problem with Ben and what happens in the house stays in the house...and if Josie has forgiven him then GET A GRIP!!! I’m not saying he’s not a selfish, opportunistic, sometimes spiteful guy...but he is hilarious, as hilarious as John and Josie found him. And I had a little tug at the heartstring to see Josie absolutely wetting herself at his bidding banter and you just know her and John would have been together on the floor in stitches!! Then later on when Cheeky and I were going to the Ladies’ room and Ben was blocking the door and he said ‘watch yourself,’ and Cheeky said ‘you, watch yourself’ (little flirt) and then obviously Flakes wasn’t watching herself and walked into the wall!

Josie was pulled up for the auctioning of this cute little bench, that if it didn’t remind you of the one in the house you’ve got rocks in your head. Josie sat down on it and said how she’d wanted a bench like the one in the house and her aunty Kaye was bidding for it and then Josie said “I want to buy it for my auntie Kaye”, which was soooo lovely and so I guess the bench is staying with the Gibsons. 

To be continued...”

TX_Babs

07-03-2012

MeningitusUK Party Reports, Pics, Videos

Originally Posted by snow_flake88:
“Continued...

Anyway, Cheeky and I were determined to speak to Josie and Cheeky was not leaving without a hug!! But whilst I was AWOL (genuinely can’t remember where I was?!?), Jan calls Cheeky over to meet Josie at our table without me!! Hehe, I let her off as she swears she was shouting for ‘Flakes, Flakes’, but I’m soooo pleased for Cheeky to get her cuddle and such a warm reception from Josie that I had to forgive her The first time I spoke to Josie a little bit was at the bar, as she really thought Cheeky was so cute being so small and I tried to jump on the ‘sympathy for the small’ bandwagon and said “but I’m small too really” and lifted up my foot to show her my MASSIVE heels and she laughed and said we were so cute! There’s definitely a weariness about Josie now, in people she doesn’t know, which is heartbreaking. The girl who took everyone at face value, was oblivious that anyone may not have your best interests, and basically saw only the good in people (John always tried to tell her otherwise), has obviously had to become more guarded because she has been betrayed by sharks. She’s had to learn the hard way, which makes me even more angry at people who’ve used and abused her kindness and confidence, as it’s forced her to be weary, when she never was. Josie is still the friendliest and warmest woman on the planet, but I don’t know if anyone knows what I mean, but it’s like as if in spite of that...there’s now a slight ‘holding back’ a bit she’s had to adopt that was never there before.

Josie really does have more moves than Shakira and Beyonce rolled into one and the fact that she had a broken leg and was literally hopping round in a circle and still managed some amazing booty bopping was epic!! With a sailor or policeman hat on she stormed the dance floor and was once again the star of the show!! Interesting, yet again, how it is not something she strives to achieve, but everyone is just mesmerized by her and therefore that’s why she receives so much attention and again it’s a strange thing to explain, but you do gravitate towards her aura and the vibes she gives off without realising!! I would bet anything that John James would never, ever, ever have liked seeing her dance without him, as (without sounding like a lesbian) she is incredibly sensuous and dare I say ‘sexy’ without even realising when she dances, as if she’s not gorgeous and attractive enough without the dancing!! This is the most incredible thing about her!! And is not to get attention, she’s in her own little world and is oblivious that all eyes are on her and she has everyone in awe!!!

Next Josie instalment was when Cheeky and I went outside for fresh air and bumped in to Guss, who forced me to have a ciggie (wish that was the truth!!) and as we had a good gab, Josie had come out for a cigarette. It was hysterical...how she didn’t burn her dress with her cigarette I don’t know. At the same time her auntie Kaye came out and said she was going home and so Josie desperately tried to hide she was smoking by putting her hand behind her back and then when her auntie was walking to the car and looked back she jumped behind us (jump may be a slight exaggeration...broken ankle and all) and said something like, “OMG I don’t want my auntie Kay to see me smoking, do you think she saw me smoking?” And we were laughing so much and saying “but Josie, you were on Big Brother.” Josie then said as honestly and as innocently as the day is long, “sometimes I really do forget that I was on there!” So funny. Anyway, the ice was broken, hehe, so I took my chance to ask for a picture. Cheeky, Gussie and I had a photo that I will always treasure (Vixx was furious not to be in it!) and once again she made us laugh when we asked her to do the ‘thumbs up’ and she said how ‘Victoria’s got the pout and I’ve got the thumbs...great’, she is just soooo naturally funny, she doesn’t realise! Then Gussie said something about Angelina Jolie’s right leg and Josie was like, “I loved that” and we said, “that’s like you” and she said, “Oh yeah, with my big boot foot” or something and then did the pose with her broken leg taking the micky! I really do love her and think she’s one of a kind!

Then in the blink of an eye she was gone and it took ages for us to realise she had even left to go home!! So before anyone asks, “what was Josie doing/ looking like” etc when Dynamite and Don’t Stop Believing came on, the answer is simple: She wasn’t there, had already left. So yes, both song requests did come from the JJJAT table...Dynamite from Cheeky and I and the latter from Jan. When Dynamite came on, that was one of my favourite moments of the night! The liberation that we felt complete at ease to request a song that everyone knows was a John James favourite and therefore you would assume to be contentious. The JJJAT were afraid of nothing and couldn’t care less if people had a problem with a Johnny number (complete with shoulder bop and our ENTIRE table got up all at once to dance together...ok I dragged a few up...literally carried Hairy myself...but it was powerful!) Once again, could not point out a single dodgy look out our John James tribute, but then I definitely wasn’t even looking for one. I loved it soooo much and have never felt prouder to be a joint supporter, because John James AND Josie were the reason why I was even there. Not because I’m a deluded reuniter, as some LOOOVE to say and not because Josie would have been nothing without John or vice versa, but purely because I would not have cared, have been so deeply affected and be so emotionally attached to either of them had it have not been for their breathtaking relationship and a love that/is was so strong it moved so many people. Had John and Josie never have fallen in love I have no doubt I would have forgotten about both of them long ago, as whilst they were two of the greatest all time housemates in their own right, no doubt about that, but it was their relationship (as beautiful one of the greatest love classics, poems or movies I’ve even seen) that has kept me just as interested in them as individuals even though they are no longer together, two and a half years after they first graced our screens. It’s incredible!

Don’t Stop Believing was another wonderful moment, as Cheeky and I grabbed Lyn, ran up the stairs to the stage and stormed the proceedings along with some others and sang from the top of our lungs!! I cannot wait to see the videos of it, as it was sooo moving, powerful and emotive and every single person in the room seemed to be as enthusiastic and passionate about the song as we were!!! I know I was drunk, and as an equal supporter I may have had rose-tinted glasses on, but I swear it was as if for that moment, none of the past year’s vitriol, nastiness, divide and side-taking could ever had happened. It felt as if we were all united to sing a song that means some much to a lot of people, regardless of the situation today! I’m not naive, I know there are some Josie ubers who probably didn’t like us and I’ve heard a couple of things to suggest that since, but I didn’t feel any animosity in the slightest, apart from one bit, but can’t be bothered to mention it, as we found it hilarious!!!!

Last instalment coming next...”

Originally Posted by snow_flake88:
“The last installment...

So, I think I’ve given enough detail of all of the parts of the night that I think would be most interesting and certainly that were most memorable for me. Now on to the organisers and a few other observations...

Den should be beyond proud of herself for instigating the creation of such an event and for having the idea all those months ago, but I have it on good authority she could never have imagined in her wildest dreams, how amazingly successful, enjoyable and well-attended it actually turned out to be!! About 150 people were there...an incredibly achievement, an amazing cause and Den put her whole soul into making it a night to remember! She was devoted to ensuring everything ran smoothly the entirely night and barely stopped to breathe...I just hope she managed to enjoy it, as she really deserved to bask in the glory of the success!! Once again, Den has been a character that many people have had an opinion on and mine has always been clear. She is firstly and fore mostly a loyal and trust friend of Josie’s and Josie is clearly devoted to her as much as she is to Josie. The love and affection is mutual and so I would ask anyone who’s criticised Den to have a think about this and think how you would be (regardless of whether your friend is right or wrong) if your friend was publicly heartbroken (know John was too, before anyone chimes in, this isn’t a compare and contrast exercise for #teamstupid) and being set up, attacked and vilely spoken about! Would you not defend them until you were blue in the face! I know I would!!! (Made me realise the exact same of John’s friends who’ve said things too) Seeing Den in person, viewing with my own two eyes, how emotional she was at the success of the event, has reminded me that THESE ARE REAL PEOPLE who react in real ways!!! They may say things in the heat of the moment etc, but Den is a woman with a big heart, full of emotions and kindness and I means an awful lot to Josie...it’s so clear to see! Her tears when she was given the thank you present told you all you needed to know about her anyway!! Her and her husband have a beautiful relationship that was lovely to see and when we all danced to the last song ‘everybody hurts’, with them both in the middle, so in love after all these years...*sob *sob *sob

With regards to other organisers, I know Shezha and Cazie were amazing as well, I just don’t know about how much they did to be honest and never had the chance to speak to them, which is why I’m not talking about it. But massive hats off to them, as I hear they were integral to the success and smooth-running of the event and Meningitus UK would be very proud of them, I’m sure!

Voddie’s involvement I do know about, as I had the pleasure of meeting her and staying up all night with her Cathy, Hazy, Katie Parkin and my Cheeky! I love her and the others to bits!!! Voddie was cracking me up with tales of the digital photo cameras as presents and how heavy they were and how bad she is with technology hehe...she’s an absolute gem and a hoot and a half!!! Cannot wait to see her video of the night-need to see Katie & co’s karaoke again for sure ! Voddie is known to be a very loyal and staunch Josie supporter, so it was great that Cheeky and I got on with her so well and had some fantastic discussions and debates all night that proved that anyone who feels that slagging off one or the other is being “loyal” is clearly the deluded one!! There was not a hint of nastiness from either side in our late night chat and that’s all anyone needs to know! Cathy is star too and I love love loved talking to her at the party and at our ‘sit-in’ lol, (that I’m conveniently getting the blame for everyones’ tiredness She has a warm heart, has her head screwed on and her and Hazy were lovely! Hazy is a gem too!! Katie, don’t get me started on how pleased I was to finally meet her and she’s as quick-witted, intelligent, honest and friendly as I knew she would be in person!!! Again, loved having the opportunity to speak to her properly and she’s just as brilliant as I knew she would be...what you see with her is what you get!! As it is with Voddie (the board don’t like )

Anyway, everyone knows how us five never went to bed, as I thought by 6am it was probably best just to wait now for breakfast at 7am...what was the point in going to bed now?? So funny when we walked into the breakfast room, couldn’t have got a full English quick enough and then as the rest of the people staying in the hotel filtered though, they couldn’t believe we’d done an all-nighter...we weren’t looking too bad, I don’t think.... Then I met the gorgeous Sarah (Moody) and Beth, saw Rhiiiii again and we had a laugh about their Karaoke with Katie and a few others and they are brilliant as well!!! So funny. Haven’t got a single negative word to say about anyone I met!!! That’s got to be the sign of a successful night out in itself

By about 9am (I think??) I rolled into the room and Jan was up and raring to go and I said, “Jan, I haven’t been to bed yet...” Hehe, she said that my empty bed gave that away already!! Got ready, went downstairs...had nice chats again...lights in the hallway went out...we all screamed...then my favourite bit just as everyones’ about to leave is when Josie’s little sisters come in, thinking they were meeting Josie there to go swimming and they’d been dropped off at the wrong hotel!! Little Ruby knew which one, but there was some confusion and we had the extra bonus pleasure of seeing her and Rhia and they were soooo cute!! Sarah’s tweet to Josie “I think you’ve lost something”, with a picture of their ickle faces pretending to be sad and lost was soooo funny!!! Don’t worry, they got save and sound back to Josie!!

Journey to the station was the biggest trauma...thinking I was going to actually throw up on the taxi driver’s head, he found it hysterical that I had gone green, so proceeded to make vomiting noises and swerving the taxi all over the place!!! Can’t tell you the relief when we arrived at Parkway and I got some fresh air!! The hysteria and laughter Jan and I shared on our journey back to Reading was toooo copious to mention...but a couple of highlights were us running like headless chickens all over Temple Meads, getting the wrong platform...dragging our cases some more and then half way through our panicked running I realised that Jonno had tweeted ‘what’s a Ben’, which I thought was funny enough...until my tweets the previous night came flooding back to me and I realised why he must have said that!! IT WAS ALL MY FAULT!! And we couldn’t stop laughing at the thought of people who wouldn’t know me assuming I’m head over in love with Jonno and now Ben!!! Pa ha ha ha ha!!! Trying to get Jan’s case under the seat was the part when we really lost the plot and both stood wetting ourselves in the aisle of the packed train...the tears were pouring!! LOVE YOU JAN!!

Anyway, think this is all for me, except that Harry was hilarious too and is great at forcing you to by raffle tickets when you already have five (hehe)! The striptease was absolutely tongue-in-cheek in case anyone fancies criticising and was hilarious...there were no desperate minges getting their kicks...it was just sooo funny, as it was intended to be!!

With regards to Luke, no point we commenting one way or the other as it’s the JJJAT, plus barely saw him to be honest. So again, not a bad word to say about him...

So...think that’s it...Flakes passes out....xxxxxx”

TX_Babs

07-03-2012

Were you ready for the change of topic?

Please let me know if I missed someone's party post to be brought forward.

Thanks Wendy.

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