Bournemouth!

Hi Guys,

Apologies that it has taken me so long to post! One whole week! I know I promised a post on Friday, but I have had such a busy week, it is only now that I feel I have enough time to properly write a decent post for you all!

So, where do I start! As you all know Wednesday I headed off with my three best friends, to visit the beautiful Becky in Bournemouth. My day started with tying to stuff everything I needed for the next 24 hours. Packing my bag for one night should not have taken as much time or taken up as much space as it did. Now, I am not known for packing light at the best of times, let alone now that I have Margaret to think about! I have a beautiful bright orange holdall, which Matt bought me three years ago. Normally this would have held enough belongings to last me a long weekend, this time however, I barely fitted everything I needed.
As well as clothes for a night out and everything for the beach the next day, I also had to include Margaret's belongings for every possible eventuallity. I took three spare pre cut bags, wipes, adhesive removers, odour sprays and god knows what else. You name it, I had it. In fact, Margaret deserved a bag all to herself.

Once I was all set and ready, I picked up Zo, Jo and Charlotte (Nashy) and we made our way down to the coast for Margaret's first over night stay. My car was packed full, the other girls has the same, if not more stuff than me! & they don't have Margaret as an excuse. Bex was waiting for us and gave us a tour of her Uni flat, which is like a rabbit warren and includes a fantastic balcony/terrace.
It felt SO amazing to be doing something 'normal' with my girls. We headed to a lovely pub for some lunch before spending an eternity getting ready for the night out. Five girls, one room and two mirrors are one hell of a combination. Three hours later we headed out the door and to a local cocktail bar.

The night continued at a club called Cameo and ended at the beach at 4am. The time in between was spent dancing (ALOT), drinking (responsibly) and generally having an amazing time surrounded by my best friends. Bex was put in charge as chief re-hydrator! By the end of the night I had downed a good few pints of water.
I had the most amazing time, despite having to battle off a particularly awful, drunk man a couple of times and killing my feet in heels and walking home bare foot.

Finishing off the night at the beach made it even better. Bex and Zo skinny dipped (they had clearly had a lot more to drink, than the rest of us), whilst me Nashy and Jo watched in horror and admiration. One of the funniest moments of the night had to be when Jo switched on the beach shower, whilst Nashy was stood underneath it - thinking it was the tap for your feet...
I only had to empty Margaret twice whilst out, although I could have gotten away with only having to do it once. The first bar had a disabled toilet which was brilliant, as it offers some more privacy. The club only had a locked disabled toilet, and although I did have my key it was on show to everyone at the bar so I felt a little self conscious having to use it. I chose to use the ladies instead, and it was actually fine! I didn't have anything to worry about.

Once we were all finally tucked up in bed, or in mine and Bex's case - the floor, we slept for about three hours before waking up to head to the beach (again)!
It did take us a couple of hours to make it, but we did finally get ourselves down to the sandy shores.

Nashy, Me, Jo, Zo & Bex

Here I am in my lovely swim suit. I have to say, despite Margaret I have never felt more confident on a beach in my life. Margaret was completely hidden - you would never know that I had an ostomy bag. I was concerned that once the swimsuit got wet, it would really cling to my tummy and Margaret would be seen but thankfully this didn't seem to happen! My confidence with having Margaret and dealing with her in tricky situations has definitely increased. 

I will soon do a post on different swimwear options for those with an ostomy, as there is no reason you can't all feel amazing whilst lying by the pool or on the beach. 

We headed home, exhausted, sandy, sweaty and hopefully a bit more tanned. I tell you a shower and my bed have never felt so amazing! 

This post is already getting long so I will wrap it now and continue the story of my mad week next time, 

Lots of love

xxxx