#8 - Win Something Wonderful - Updated

In an earlier post, I told you how I had won £250 worth of Leisure Vouchers, which I was going to use to pay for one of the items on my list - a hot air balloon ride.  I wasn't quite done though, especially as I had marked it off my list so soon, and so easily.

I was quite right.  In January, I won a competition with Harvey Nichols.  They gave me up to £500 to treat myself, the money had to be spent on one item.  As much as I love handbags and shoes, I couldn't justify spending that amount of money on them, so Mr G suggested I buy myself a nice watch.  Being something I could keep and use on special occasions.  I chose a lovely Michael Kors watch!  Something I would never have had otherwise.

And on Monday of this week, I received an email to tell me I had won £250 cash!!  That was a really nice surprise.  You don't really see very many cash prize competitions, they tend to be vouchers for different stores or experiences.  I've earmarked some of the money to treat my parents to a meal out (maybe for a huge gammon...) and I may treat myself to an iPod touch with the rest. 

And no, I'm not quite done yet, either ;-)  Something else is going to come, for sure...

#17 - Eat from 40 different places I haven't eaten at before - 5/40

5.  The place -  Kinmel Arms, Moelfre.  The dish - Gammon and chips.   Eat in - 2nd February, 2016

Ye Gods, let me tell you.  You ain't ever had a gammon like this before.  Gracing the Kinmel Arms for our 14th Wedding Anniversary, we'd heard about the gammons from Mr G's old boss, who lives in the village.  You can't actually see how big it is, from the sheer volume of food on my plate, so look at this next picture to put the thickness of the gammon into context...

I like my meat like I like my men.  Thick and pink, with a little fat around the edges...

It had to be about an inch thick.  And for a very bargainous £12.99, you can't go wrong.  Cooked to perfection, and the chips were good too.  Although it was far too big a portion to accompany such a massive hunk of meat, I'd rather too many than too few, which is a bit of a bugbear for me at the moment, are pubs counting how many chips they're dishing out these days?  I worked in a pub kitchen, I know how much huge bags of frozen chips cost...

Highly, highly recommended.  If I could give more, I would, but I can't, so - 10/10.

#10 - Conquer my needle phobia - Treatment commenced!

It's official, as was suspected, after a psychological evaluation, I do actually have something called 'Blood Injury Injection Disorder'.  This has come as a huge relief to me.  Treatment begins in two weeks time, a course of CBT and immersion, and I am not looking forward to that part.  I had a sweat on when the Psychologist pulled out a sealed syringe, one without a needle in - which might sound pathetic, but that's what this disorder does to you.  Apparently it can usually be traced back to a traumatic experience in your childhood and we managed to identify two that he thinks would definitely have triggered it off for me.  Happy days, let's see how we get on with this.  Might be a long and uncomfortable journey, but at least I've made a start on it.