Friday, January 11, 2008

 

The new me

Two of my nearest and dearest announce they’re taking a break from blogging and a tiny bit more of the inclination to post my own blog evaporates. Apathy, boredom, depression and emptiness – the blogging blues look set to stay. But then, just as I resign myself to life without a blog, the lovely Wendy sends some persuasive comments and motivation returns. My head is so easily turned!

I know it’s way too late for Christmas stuff, but, as all good politicians say “can I just say …” then go ahead and say it anyway. So, those round robin Christmas cards. I’ve always thought there’s something odd about the people who write them, referring to themselves in the third person, recounting dreary, humourless lists of family achievements, but conveniently leaving out the only interesting bit about Uncle Arthur’s prosecution for an incident on Clapham Common. This extract from one of ours made me laugh: last winter we had to shorten our vacation because of the sudden death of A’s brother in December. But we were compensated in March with beautiful weather and excellent snow conditions. He sounds perfect for that Samaritans job.

I’m a compulsive list maker and always have huge To Do lists on the go and deal with them something like this: now, what shall I do first, send back the dud parcel from Amazon and take it to the post office, which will mean rummaging round for suitable packaging, or order that new food processor? – hmm, difficult one that. So, my new year resolution is to stop deluding myself - face it, you ain’t ever gonna send back that parcel while there’s a choice, so no more than two things go on the list and nothing gets added until they’re both done. How difficult does that sound?

My only other resolution is to cut down on alcohol. A while ago I was leaving my daughter’s house when she thrust a book into my hands. “What is this? Alcoholics Anonymous - you think I’m…you think your mother is an alcoholic? are you crazy?” And then she wanted to know how long it was since I’d had a day without a drink. I couldn’t remember, although I know it wasn’t the day I had a hysterectomy 6 years ago – “but… but… it’s only wine at mealtimes, I never get drunk and besides, I don’t have a health problem, apart from a neck that creaks a bit when I turn my head - but then I’ve done nothing that requires me to keep looking over my shoulder - and a little trouble sleeping." My loved one's going to keep me company, but I'm not sure how successful it will be if his face, when he drank a glass of orange juice recently is anything to go by.

A ten month rental of a cottage in the country results in a mammoth session of packing up, cleaning and finding space for the tons of extra stuff we’ve accumulated. We spend the first hour and a half back home tearing the house apart looking for the bag with the bits that go with the TV, only to find that I’ve already unpacked them and put them in a ‘safe’ place.

I reorganise the contents of kitchen cupboards. They're full of duplicate bottles of chilli, Worcester and pizza sauces in varying stages of congealing goo. I decide to put things into spare storage jars, but I’ve miscalculated the capacity, and now I have to find room for a storage jar and a quarter box of salt. I notice that another storage jar contains some exotic lain flour because I couldn't find my glasses when I was writing the label and hadn’t noticed that the p belonged to the bit that didn’t peel off.

To hell with it, I’m going back to my disorganised ways. Happy New Year to everyone.

Comments:
Hooray! You didn't stop! See, the good think about the (hopefully temporary) demise of This Is This and Riviera Writer is that is's (shhhh) less competition for us!

And I'm so glad you said that about round robin Christmas cards. Of course the ease with which you can take digital pictures and print them, which means people can now send round robin Christmas letters and include pictures of THEIR CHILDREN, which then makes me feel guilty about throwing them away. It's just inconsiderate.

Happy new year :)
 
Hiya Moll! ;)
Happy New Year!
 
Thanks for your comments Wendy and Ed - oh and the other resolution is not to leave it so long to blog haha!
 
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