BUT MY FACE IS NEAR SOME TASTY BITES.....
I’M UP ABOVE THE YORKSHIRE PUDS....
LIFE IS CRAZY, BUT ALL GOOD!
Hello again,
This week I am again writing to you from my conservatory, but there is a difference to last week. I am surrounded by blue fairy lights that track right round the roof. It now looks like a cross between a cocktail bar and Santa’s grotto. When I look down on the roof from my bedroom window the blue glow in the garden looks as if a spaceship has just landed, but this makes me happier than you could imagine. I have always had a passion for candles and unusual lights and always said if I ever had my own house, fairy lights would be a big feature and now I can do exactly what I want. Yippee! Sam and Luke said it looked magical, although I have had to hide the buttons that make them flash and glow on and off, as the effect then looks like a lightning storm and I felt a migraine coming on!
There have been a few other changes this week as well as my new lights. Sam came out of school on Monday saying that when he walked in all his class mates started singing the cancan music. Everyone in the playground has been lovely and all congratulated me too. It really feels like others are sharing this journey with me as lots of the people that have said well done are the ones who tirelessly voted for me every day and put me in this position.
I have always just laughed when people say “you’re famous now,” as I still find the whole idea quite surreal and ridiculous, but since the new adverts went out I have to admit that normal life has started to change too.
I was at work the other day fixing glasses at the work bench when I had another surprise. It all happens at the Specsavers work bench, as that is also where I was when the Iceland team came in with cameras to tell me I had won the competition back in April. This time it was the Nailsea Precinct Manager asking me if I would officially open the Nailsea Christmas Victorian Street Fair next Friday! After the shock, I said “of course I would do it and it would be an honour” as I always go to the fair anyway and love the sense of community spirit you feel there. It is also quite a sentimental occasion for our family as my Granny lived in Nailsea long before me and used to be very proud to invite us all to “her “ Christmas fair. Sadly she isn’t with us anymore but I can just imagine how proud she would feel to see her granddaughter do the official opening. I am contemplating opening it in my cancan costume as it has a slightly Victorian feel, but haven’t totally decided yet as it is December and so not very practical. Also there is a fair with dodgems too which are my favourite, but I think doing the dodgems in a tight corset and huge cancan skirt would just be asking for trouble!
Then as if that wasn’t exciting enough I was reading through my local paper and turned the page to find a picture of myself smiling back at me! They had written an article about the new adverts and the fair opening. I shouted to the boys to come and see but they are so much more laid back about the whole Iceland experience than me. Sam said “oh yeah, but you are always in something Mum,” and went off to finish his play station game. At least I know whatever else happens my children won’t allow my 15 minutes of fame to go to my head.
Even my normal working day is different now. Lots of our Specsavers customers have been coming in especially to say they have seen me on TV, and asking about meeting Jason Donovan. When I go for my lunch break I always sit out on a bench in the precinct and this always used to be a quiet, solitary affair, but now people come up and talk to me. It is a strange feeling when people know you, but you don’t know them, but they are always so nice to talk to that it isn’t scary or intimidating. They just genuinely want to say well done and it’s an amazing feeling.
Even my weekly Iceland shop is different now. All of the “Iceland mums” from the Christmas adverts have their pictures up in store, including me. I am proud to say that I am in the Yorkshire puddings section! I had to capture this particular moment of fame forever and take a picture subtly without letting other shoppers know what I was up to, but it was quite difficult as they were all staring at me anyway. Let’s face it, someone hovering around the freezer cabinet with a camera does look suspicious, even before you notice that it is the person in the picture minus the feathers and corset! I also then had to go and spot all my friends too and looked like a lunatic as I shouted out to my mum “OOO look there’s Eve! And look, there’s Sue in the lasagne!” And so on…
I also found out this week I was part of a pub quiz question. I wasn’t at the quiz but a friend texted me to say “guess what, we just had a question asking which Nailsea mum is in the press again this week after winning the New Face of Iceland competition, and is now starring in the TV adverts?” Needless to say, my friend got the question right. She said everyone knew my first name but she got the point for knowing my surname. The single idea that I had a quiz question written about me is enough to keep me happy forever, long after my 15 minutes of fame are over so even if it all ends tomorrow I will be happy now!
Finally I have been asked to be a friend’s “celebrity” guest at her “come dine with me” dinner party next week. I expect I will have to say “ooo this IS a surprise” lots of times and then dance the cancan as that is what I did on TV. Wish me luck!
To sum up, I can’t carry on saying nothing has changed because it actually has. It’s perhaps more honest to say as a person I haven’t changed, and even if I tried to, my children would ground me very quickly so I don’t think I ever will change. It’s just circumstances that have, and it’s all good.
Thanks for reading
Ellie
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