Morning! Wow, got up early again today but obviously yesterday all earliness went out of the window after two WHOLE days at work.

So, yes I survived and it was loads better than I thought I would be. YAY and BIG smiles from me. The reason I haven't blogged is because I've been thinking about other things. Which is another good thing as it means less blog therapy is needed right now.

The Oxfam office is tiny but I've worked in small offices before and as long as the people are nice (!) then I like them. There are two paid members of staff and another volunteer (all male which is another bonus!) who make lots of jokes and are very funny. I laugh at their jokes and try to be funny as well but think I have used up my stock of amusing stories already.

One thing I really like is that they are very good at including me in everything - inviting me to meetings and including me in what's going on - so I feel part of the team. So although obviously I am a volunteer, I don't feel like one. Another good thing is that when I've done voluntary work in the past I've been quite bitter about the people around me who are getting paid for doing a very similar job to the one I'm doing. But now I'm not worried about that because I realise the good it's doing me and most importantly that my confidence has increased and I feel more 'alive' than I've felt in ages.

My task is to promote the Oxfam Unwrapped Christmas catalogue in the local media and link it to Oxfam's Essential Services campaign which explains how implementing basis services can 'Make Poverty History'. I wonder if I'm allowed to write about this on here? Anyway, just as we (the UK) lifted ourselves out of poverty in the early 20th Century with clean water, sewerage, free education and free health care so the developing world can escape poverty too.

I still haven't done that much work - there's just too much fun to be had chatting! But I did write a media strategy for my campaign which is something I've never done before. I haven't had feedback on it yet but I hope it's OK. I found it a really useful exercise as it enabled me to focus on my task and plan my time. Neither of which are my strong points. The scary bit of the job is ringing journalists. I am petrified of this especially as I seem to cough so much more when I work. I wonder why this is? And when I'm coughing a lot and clearing my throat I remember that maybe journalism and having to speak to people on the phone all day long isn't really the ideal job.

Um, maybe I just have to accept that I am not cut out for the media world. But then as is clear with my blog, I'm quite into self-promotion and yesterday my day was made by my text being read out on Simon Mayo's Five Live programme which led to a whole new avenue in the discussion. :) That's the second time I've had a text read out on Five Live recently. Also, this morning they mentioned my email (although not my name) which clarified the BBC's slack journalism. (That the Browns' didn't press release the news about their son having cf but responded to a story which was broken on the Sun online last night.)

Anyway, I've been told by my Oxfam manager to make the project my own and use my initiative, but what is that?? One of my previous bosses said I didn't use it which was perfectly true and it's a well-known fact that I really have to force it out and prefer to be told what to do. So, maybe I should get a job in a call centre? But then I'd have my toilet breaks timed and wouldn't be able to chat and have fun. Looks like I better take some uber-confidence pills and hope the journalists on the end of the phone are as rubbish as I was.