Little Thiagos everywhere - In the name of Thiago - Day 257

 

I had a lovely old chat while sorting out dinner this evening with my old mate Nuns. I wasn't expecting to see my old Pevensey Cricket Club teammate this weekend, but it turns out that not only will I get a Nuns on Sunday but I'll also get to see his good lady and my mate Saffron for the go live date on Saturday too. It's going to be a lovely old time, of that I'm quite sure now.

Fundraising has gone through the roof this last few days. I've now raised £12,000, which is so much more than I ever thought I would be able to achieve and you know what: I feel really proud. Extremely emotional and mostly broken yes, but proud too. I am really very ready to do this and I just want to get started. 




My main man Rob has dropped off the T-shirts this evening and they look ace. The big man has really splashed out on my personal ones as they've got this luvverly breathable fabric. The other shirts are going to be perfect as well - how could they not be with these two beauties plastered on the front? Well quite. Rob has been a brilliant help to me. He sorted these shirts out as if it was no bother at all and he's also been very generous by supporting the fundraiser through two of his businesses. Thanks Rob, I really am very grateful and maybe you me and Alex, (another ice skating Dad) will be there for the penultimate leg.. 



I'm feeling pretty smug about the idea I had to come up with the idea of doing a 'calling at' in the style of a train or bus journey and then reeling off a few places I'll be stopping at on the way. It represents the utter randomness that has forever been a key part of my make-up. I'd venture there aren't many, if indeed any, other utter lunatics out there that will have undertaken this particular journey.

I may have transgressed into middle-aged suburban dull sobriety but at heart I just want to be a fucking nutter. I think one of the things I'm most looking forward to on this journey of a lifetime - which ironically takes me from one place I know very well to another place I know really well - is meeting many of life's waifs and strays. Social misfits and complete randoms - essentially my kind of people!



I met Rob to collect the T-shirts at the ice rink where Elisa is still having classes and as is standard, despite having a full ten minutes to get herself ready, her ladyship still failed spectacularly to do so. And when she did manage to take to the ice, without the gracefulness of a gazelle, she did so with her blade guards still in place and went flying arse over tit. I sympathetically made sure I got a reasonable snap of it, as would of course, any self-respecting father. Well, if she's going to dish it out - and bloody hell does she dish it out - then she's got to take it too. 



I've decided that I'm not going to push doing any more media now, I'm on BBC WM and BBC Radio Stoke this evening shortly after 11.15pm, Signal are running something in their bulletins on Saturday morning, I'm doing a live interview with BBC Radio Sussex on Saturday shortly after 8am and BBC Midlands Today have asked me to prepare a few short video files for their Saturday early evening programme. All of course to talk about my little hero and encourage a few donations.

I need to turn my attentions to walking now and spending the last few hours I have with my two beautiful girls before they head back up north on Sunday. Of course, I'll be heading back up north too; just much more slowly! Keep the donations and the shares coming folks - we're already 80% of the way to my new target, which is really humbling really. Thank you everyone.

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