Small moments

I meant to blog last week but it's been a very busy week (apart from those outrageously lazy times). My birthday turned out to be a very special occasion.  I'm always at work on my birthday, apart from when it falls at weekends.  All my friends and colleagues at work made it a very special day.  It's as if I could feel this silent acknowledgement that my non-milestone birthday was to be just that bit more special this year than usual, after these horrible few months.  What a happy day I had, with lots of lovely gifts, beautiful cards and kind wishes.  

Of course it goes without saying that faithful travelling companion played a huge role in giving me a very happy birthday! :)

I've decided to throw myself into some major (and long overdue) painting, decorating and home improvement over the next few months, which will provide a major interest/distraction - not to mention some very hard work as I do all my own painting and decorating!  

It's now 14 weeks since I lost my mum.  And it is the small moments which continue to rip me to shreds.  Today my friend went to our GP for her flu vaccination.  And then it hit me hard.  This is October.  This is the month, possibly the week, when I should be taking mum to the doctor's for her flu jab.  But I'm not.  

I have never cried at work since mum died, but today I came pretty close, just because of that small moment.  And when those small moments happen it's like the world crashes to a halt.  But then it starts again, and I hear her voice telling me to get on with life again. 

October

As months go, October is probably one of my least favourites. It really hasn't got much going for it: the holidays are over and there's not much to look forward to, the weather gets colder, the days get darker, Christmas is being foisted on us by every high street store before it's even Halloween, the fireworks start going on sale for all the anti-social low lifes to let off every night between now and 5th November, making our streets even more of a no-go area than they are already. My mood sinks so low that I end up comfort eating, getting fat, gaining weight, getting angry that I'm getting fat. And don't start me about work...

Anyway being the optimist I am, I'm trying to think of something good about October. Then I remembered that this is probably my favourite time of the year for clothes. I might have said on this blog before now that I love autumn fashion, and that's still the same. You can forget all the trendy designer shops - my favourite clothes shop is the magnificent Matalan. Good quality clothes at reasonable prices, you can't go wrong.

One of my major autumn/winter obsessions is boots. When you live in a country with a climate as utterly dire as this one, you can't have enough boots of course. On Saturday I headed for Matalan with my birthday money and bought not one but two new pairs of boots for the winter. One of them is a knee-high dark grey pair, the other is a mid-calf brown pair (pictured above). Today was like a winter's day, so I wore the brown pair to work, and they passed the test.

Last word on my birthday - I did very well this year...two pairs of boots, a new skirt, a Father Ted DVD box set, a crystal bracelet, two bottles of red wine and still some money left to spend. Result!

(nearly) September 30th

It's my birthday tomorrow, so I thought I'd check out who will also be blowing out the candles on their cake tomorrow. Of course another year older means that there is inevitably more candles than there's space on the cake ;)

Anyway, I'm impressed that I'm sharing my big day with the likes of Barbara Knox, Johnny Mathis, the late Marc Bolan, Rula Lenska, the fab Basia Trzetrzelewska, Monica Bellucci, Marion Cotillard, Star Academy 2's Georges-Alain Jones, and Ola Jordan.

So happy birthday to all of them, happy birthday to me, and if tomorrow's your big day then happy birthday to you!!

Unfortunately I've decided to postpone my annual birthday dinner at my favourite local Indian restaurant as I'm not in tip top health at the moment...however it shouldn't be too long till our usual annual treat!