Seaside here I come!

I’m off on my monthly visit to Rye tomorrow – am so pleased it’s come round so quick! 3 days of total bliss and relaxation. To say I can’t wait is an understatement. However, before that I am attending an evening masterclass with my friend S, to ice cakes. Yup, royal icing, piping and palette knives here we come. It’s A Women’s Institute Member’s wet dream and at the end I will have 4 (probably badly!) iced cakes to keep K quiet for at least, oooh 5 minutes!

It’s nice to have that mix of apprehension and pleasure that you get when you have something to look forward to that will challenge and be enjoyable in equal measure. God knows I am an old hand when it comes to the emotion of being just challenged…and the subsequent flip-flopping I’ve done over the years from will I, won’t I to going and hating it or cancelling.

I’ve got a lot coming up as it happens, that I have planned and booked myself in the spirit of genuine pleasure. It’s a strange feeling looking at the diary and seeing things that I want to do stretching ahead of me, rather than a whole load of obligations. Had I been single still, and involved with my parents, the next 3 months would have involved the following:
- Being cajoled into a holiday with them in the South of France. After being battered down with requests I would have gone for a week, spent half of it being marched round the sights and the other half comatose on deckchairs arguing outside a villa of their choosing with a whole load of empty bottles.
- If I had been strong enough to refuse their invite I would have had them down for the weekend preceding their trip and on their return. My mother would have lined up DIY jobs (on MY flat!) for my dad to do, which he would have squeezed in using stuff purchased from either the B&Q sale rack or their local market. It wouldn’t be finished off as he’d run out of time and either she’d berate him for being useless or I’d get it in the neck for expecting it to be done. All along said DIY would have been her idea….
- Used up my savings to attend my cousin’s wedding in Canada. Don’t get me wrong, P is a lovely bloke and I have a lot of time for him. However, given the distance, we’ve met on about 5 occasions over the course of our lifetime. I went to my cousin K’s wedding a few years back and had a very nice time but, even though I met a very nice man at the time, whom I went on to date, I can’t say my life would have been any less enriched if I hadn’t gone. It was nice to see everyone but the drinking began on my arrival and never stopped. We went from one party to the other and my knowledge of Toronto (where we stayed) is minimal. In 10 days I saw the city centre twice, both times after dark and went to Niagara once. I saw all my relatives but the fact is, we have little in common. No disrespect but that’s a fact rather than a judgement. I have no yearning to return to Canada (unlike my brother who is very happy visiting and has just come back) but would have been persuaded otherwise by my parents and ended up guilt tripped into attending. As it happens, I had an email 2 weeks ago to tell me that the wedding has been postponed to next year. My parents would doubtless have already bought flights so the holiday would have gone ahead anyway and my resentment would have been even greater.

Instead of the above I will be going to 2 concerts and one comedy night – all of my choosing. Visiting my old colleague from Parliament, a sweet old dear whom I haven’t caught up with for 10 years. Making another trip to Rye, popping down to Reigate to see the nephews, taking a boat trip down the Thames with one set of friends and doing brunch with another. I have my cake class tonight and am juggling dates to start a massage and an upholstery one. Hell, no-one will look on my life with envy at the social whirl but do I care? What matters is that these are MY choices. I read a really interesting article yesterday about how facebook status updates are narcissism and the only reason people need to do them is to validate themselves. Yes, yes, I know the argument (what’s this blog then?) but the blog is essentially a diary as so few people know about it. I couldn’t care less if it was read as it is here for me to vent my spleen. In fact, quite the opposite. I’d rather not have people scrutinise my every word for meaning and pretension and be left to ramble on rather than justify my every thought. That’s not to say I would be offended if someone read it but I’d rather it was read in the spirit it is intended – not to draw attention to me but to allow my random thoughts to be shared with others who may or may not care less.

And so endeth my lesson for today – ha ha. Am sure I will have tons more to share next week as it should be quiet and calm now that the schools have broken up and everyone’s off on their hols. Well, everyone except non-breeders like me who are getting away before the mass exodus as I have no desire to share my time off with families and want peace, perfect peace!