I’m 34 you know

And in celebration of nearing middle age I plan to tell anyone and everyone I meet this fact. Old people seem to do it all the time, I’ve lost count (and not due to my increasingly years and failing memory!) of the times I’ve been told this by aged borrowers since I started work in the library just how old they are. It’s a phenomena my Dad and I have observed for a while now and whilst he is counting on me to rein him in when he starts doing it (he will be 70 this year :shock:) I’ve decided to start doing it now while it is still conscious and therefore ironic rather than wait for it to become the measuring stick by which me losing my marbles is gauged. I have far more outrageous and detailed plans for that to happen :lol:.

Yesterday at work one of the borrowers confided that she would celebrate her 94th birthday today so we wished each other Happy Birthday in advance and I have been thinking about her today – as I imagine she has been thinking about me. On the day I was born she was already 60, already a goodly portion through what most of us would be content to consider our life, already a mother (if she is one), very likely a grandmother and possibly even a great grandmother (this is Lancing, after all 😆 there are plenty of grannies in their 30s!) – and yet in those exact same 30 years I have had my whole, entire life. That’s a great feeling you know, that I can hope to be only about a third of the way through with plenty more to come. And of course I am entering the same year for me in which my Dad became a father so I already have a double head start on him there. It’s a funny old thing age isn’t it, all so very relative.

Anyway I’ve had a lovely, lovely day today – thanks for all the texts, twitters, facebook messages and growing gifts etc. 🙂 It started with a nice long lie in, followed with Davies and Scarlett bundling into bed for cuddles and tickles. I finally got up around 9am and was presented with gorgeous handmade cards from the children (and one from The Thank You Neighbours – signed by Annette on this occassion and addressed to ‘Nicohola’ which I quite like and may adopt as yet another persona, I think for when I am drinking tequilla, it has a nice Mexican sound to it :lol:). Ady, Davies and Scarlett had been on a secret shopping mission on the Friday after Christmas to Marks and Spencers to get my presents. Now this is a brave, brave thing. Taking two children to possibly the busiest shop during the after Christmas sales to purchase ladies underwear deserves more than a thank you card really ;). Apparently they’d spent nearly two hours in there with Scarlett ‘going low’ and looking at pants, Davies checking out the middle height racks for bras and Ady probably looking shifty and embarrassed! But they had done amazingly well and chosen two gorgeous sets of matching bras and pants, both in pink, in the right sizes and everything :).

They’d also happened upon my rainbow bag in the post Christmas tidy up so they’d wrapped that up too :lol:.

My parents arrived, as arranged at 10.10am which was the time I was born, coincidentally it was a Sunday that year too. My Mum did her customary speech about ’34 years ago right now…’ (see where I get it from ;)) and then her and I headed over to Brighton to the Lush shop for my birthday present. I’ve often moaned about a January birthday but the last 3 or 4 years have been pleased to celebrate it then as I have had Lush vouchers or this year and last year been taken there by my Mum and been able to make full and proper use of their fab January sale. This year was the same deal as last year – get a free gift for every £15 you spend of anything made prior to December 2007, which also included all their Christmas stock. So I spent £45 and got a good £30 worth of free stuff :).

We left there and as I am still on a black skirt hunt for Tarly we had a very quick whizz round some of the shops. We didn’t find a black skirt but I did get her a new pair of boots as hers are falling apart. The sole has come away from the boot and despite having fixed it three times it is not holding. So I found a lovely pair of brown boots for her for £6 which she is delighted with ‘because they make me look like a cowgirl!’ – and she doesn’t even read Pioneer Woman and know of my cattle ranch lifestyle envy. We came home via Tescos for some nice food for lunch.

We had a nice afternoon with DSing, The Incredibles watching, some drawing and playing, eating and general lazing around really. Scarlett tried on her swimsuit to check it still fits ok, tried on her googles before we put them very safely away in her swimming bag – also found Davies’ trunks and goggles and did the same with them to avoid the WHERE ARE YOUR GOGGLES?! tantrum by me five minutes before we need to leave for swimming on Tuesday. Of course that means I will lose a whole swimming bag, or my keys, or a child or something instead. I also sewed on Davies’ new Beaver and Badger badges, found a black skirt from the ebay pile that Scarlett can wear to Badger until I find a proper uniform one for her and unpicked the decorative pink ribbon attached to it, dug out Davies’ old outgrown Badger T shirt and she tried that all on with her new long socks and black shoes and found Davies’ new navy Beaver trousers and black Badger trousers, got him to try them on and then hemmed the too long black trousers for him. I’ve never neen so organised, this being 34 has really had a big effect on me :). Then to relieve the sensibleness we posed for lots of silly arms length portraits until I felt suitably silly and immature again, I’m only 34 you know!

My parents then left at a really very respectable 6pm ish. The children had a bath, I stroked, sniffed and organised all my new Lush stuff in the bathroom and then when they’d vacated the bath to go to bed I had a very long, very scented bath myself, with bubbles and a bath bomb and a face pack and nice shampoo. It was lovely 🙂 I also laid there with a new book (thanks to the library) and a glass of champagne (thanks to Ady’s boss for the Christmas gift we’d been saving) and got out to enjoy a beautifully cooked dinner of pheasant (thanks to Ady’s workmate Tom) – so it was a most giftilicious birthday :).