from you to me journals ... Journal of a Lifetime

We are starting to run some competitions where you can win stuff!

So many people are now contacting us to share some of the answers they have given or received in their journals that we thought we would start running some competitions with plenty of chances to get your hands on our stuff!

life matters . . . pass it on

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Click here if you would like to be kept up to date with our competitions and offers.

Win Cooking up Memories

Sweet shops bring back great memories . . . what would be some of your favourite sweets ?

If you could invite anyone, living or dead, to your dinner party , who would they be?

Send us your answers to these questions and if they get top votes from the from you to me team, you will win a copy of our new journal. We have five copies to give away each month in 2008.

Win Dear Brother, from you to me

What is the most annoying thing I have done?

Send us your answer to this question and if it get top votes from the from you to me team, you will win a copy of our new journal. We have five copies to give away each month in 2008.

THE LEADERBOARDS

Thanks for all your entries this month, we have had some fun entries and all are being submitted to the competition. You have still got time to enter . . . so send in your answers to the questions listed above!

Sweet Memories

The sweet question has brought back some great memories for some of you and here are some of the answers we have received and particularly liked so far. Do they bring back memories for you?

1. When I was small our local sweet shop had all the big glass jars of loose sweets that would get weighed out. I loved lemon bonbons and sugar cola bottles. As I grew it changed to having all the wrapped sweets and loose jellies under glass in plastic tubs. I'd go in with my 10p and press my face against the glass and always choose 1/2penny sweets so I'd get more! Refreshers and Drumsticks were my favourites. I'm sure they've got smaller, along with curley wurleys, or is it just that I am so much bigger!

What didn't I like . . . palm o violets . . . who on earth thought they'd be a kids favourite?!

2. Sherbert Lemons bought by the "quarter" out of a big jar and weighed up on the old scales (and the shopkeeper always used to throw in an extra sweet "for luck because you've got a cheeky smile"! I also liked h omemade cocunut ice and peppermint creams at Christmas time!

3. Mintos remind me of an old man who used to live in our street and we would often get offered one from his paper bag. My brother and I are sure they don't taste quite the same as they used to, but who knows how long he had had them, maybe they improved with age!

Space dust that crackled and popped in your mouth. I remember waiting with some fear of it hurting my mouth, but was gutted when the packet was empty . . . that was as daring as my life got at the age of 10!

I loved Wispa bars too and would savour several of them along with a cup of coffee as they melted in your mouth, yum! I recently noticed that they were back by popular demand (my prayers have been answered!!)

4. Cola cubes, Milk bottles and flying saucers!

5. When I was a child as I still believe it is these days, sometimes the quantity of sweets outweighed the quality of them. We had a shop up our road that had the best pick and mix counter you could imagine - and you could get more than a couple of sweets for your ten pence piece - I remember 4 jelly teddies for a penny and likewise with the lovely cherry lips. Then there were the expensive sweets - 1p for a refresher chew or a blackjack (always the ones left at the bottom of my bag) and rice paper that didn;t tast of anything but was cool as you could fool others into thinking it was real paper (well I can't think of any other reason for it)! 7p used to buy some very un 'pc' sweets - sweet cigarettes! If only we could have those shops now . . .

Dinner Party challenge

The dinner party challenge has really got you thinking . . . would you invite any of these as guests to yours?

1. My great-great-grandparents so they could help fill in all the blanks in my family tree research. They sound like they had such interesting lives and I'd love to hear all about how their life used to be . . . and I'm sure they could clear up a few of the family mysteries and point out who all the unidentified people in the old photos are!

2. Nigella Lawson would be one choice. I love her comfort foods, mashed potatoes . . . heaven! As I am not too adventurous in the kitchen, at least I know she likes simple stuff and would enjoy what I created. I could also get some tips on how to get ready to go out at top speed without looking like I had just got ready at top speed!

David Attenborough, he fascinates me. I could listen to him talk forever and my dinner guests would be so enthralled with his tales that the food would hardly be noticed!

Graham Norton, but maybe not the same night as David Attenborough as I would not get the benefit of both guets. Graham is a hoot, I love his sick sense of humour and I think a night in with him would be great, for me anyway. Sorry Graham! He could bring a friend with him. Not sure what would be on the menu, would it really matter, my ribs would ache from laughing and Nigella migh lend a hand!?

3. Jesus Christ would be a great guest as I could learn about his life and influence on so many people. Also if we ran out of food and wine he might be able to create something valuable from water and a few loaves!

4. Stephen Fry please . . . what a witty and knowledgeable gentleman!

5. Leon Trotsky!

6. I would like Eric Morecambe - yeah he could make anyone smile . .

Annoying your brother . . .

Not many entries to the annoying your Brother challenge . . . yet? Were you simply too nice to him or too embarrassed to admit what you did?

1. I would imagine it was when we played Scalextric in our bedroom. The racing set was his pride and joy and he occasionally bullied me into racing with him and he always gave me the naff car. At the mere age of about 7, I was not quite as skilled a driver as I am now (I wish) and would become over zealous with the accelerating button, sending the car into orbit from the corner of the track into a solid wooden door, ooops. At times I wished I had just thrown myself at the wooden door, it would have saved a whole lot of upset as not only did my brother have a go at me for wrecking the car but I got told off for chipping the paintwork too!

2. My brother used to push me around our street in my pedal car and I would make great engine noises. He was 10 years older than me so I would tell him to go faster and faster but he never seemed to go fast enough. He never seemed to get bored and would do this for hours, but I always used to look longingly at a driveway we past on each lap. I thought about how fast I would go as I zoomed down the steep drive in my car. Another lap, another dream of breaking the record speed. Finally on the 10th lap I turned sharply down the drive leaving my brother lying in the street. I was right, I zoomed fast. Much faster than anything I had achieved when my brother pushed me. Trouble was I had never considered just how I would stop at the bottom of the steep drive and I drove my metal pedal car straight into an electric sub-station door. My metal car was a write-off as was my legs and knees which needed many stikcing plasters!

But I seem to remember it was my brother who got into trouble for pushing me down there!

3. My brother would say the day I fell backwards onto his action man helicopter and my mum spent hours trying to glue it back together (he did push me, so it wasn't really my fault but you know brothers), or he may say he time I was running around a go kart track on top of the tyres at the side and he decided to follow me (obviously he didn't take into account I was younger and therefore lighter than him) and yes one of them collapsed and he ripped his brand new tracksuit (again my fault of course). But I think the one he will never forgive me for is when I found out a girl in his year at school was having a go at him (and because he was well brought up he would not hit a girl) however when I found out I did the dutiful sister thing and had a gentle word with her (ok maybe it was not gentle) but she never bothered him again. This he will always say was the most annoying thing I did to him growing up . . .