Birthday Girls

(image via pinterest)

Cass, welcome to the birthday club. Seems to be ok so far.


It was only this morning that I put two and two together and realised it was Lisa Marie's birthday too. Somehow I'd managed to separate the two in my head.


Happy birthday to you both

Cee unveiled

By telling me, that my blog did not appear very chipper Cee was not having a go – what she was really saying was “You love writing, you love your blog, and you’re not doing what you love. There must be something taking up a lot of head space going on, what is it and how can I help”

I have been meaning to write about Cee for quite some time – let’s start with the fact that her name is actually Cass but as I’ve changed the names of everyone on the blog that is what she got lumbered with. When I first wrote about Cee as one of my Special Women I mentioned that she had her own blog and that, with her permission, I’d let you know about it. I would really like to let you know about her blog – she is hilarious. In fact, you may have heard one of her stories – the ketchup incident. I think it has become an urban legend. When Cass first phoned to tell me about the ketchup incident, I was home from University on Christmas break, my Mum came into the kitchen to find me on the floor with tears streaming down my face. She very nearly phoned an ambulance and it took a wee while for her to realise that I was laughing uncontrollably.

So what is the point of this rambling you are asking? Go ahead and just link already! Well I would do but I am scared, it goes back to my whole anxiety over anonymity (yes other than the photos of my face). As far as I am aware, no one who knows me in real life other than Cass and O has actually found the blog and I would rather like to keep it that way. Cass on the other hand is very public with her blog; she has sent the link round to all her friends and family and has posted it through her Facebook page. My fear is that if I link to her blog then you lovely people go and read it (and you might possibly mention me) and if her friends and family get curious and link to you, they might find me. Paranoid me? YES big style!

If I do link to Cass’ blog and you comment you have to promise not to mention me (as R or Spare Thoughts).

If you do go and read her blog – you have to promise to be NICE, not that I would expect you to be anything else but I am fiercely loyal.

Recaps: Cee reading

Cee read – A Lovely Love Story by Edward Monkton


The fierce Dinosaur was trapped inside his cage of ice. Although it was cold he was happy in there. It was, after all, his cage. Then along came the Lovely Other Dinosaur.
The Lovely Other Dinosaur melted the Dinosaur's cage with kind words and loving thoughts. I like this Dinosaur, thought the Lovely Other Dinosaur. Although he is fierce he is also tender and he is funny. He is also quite clever though I will not tell him this for now. I like this Lovely Other Dinosaur, thought the Dinosaur. She is beautiful and she is different and she smells so nice. She is also a free spirit which is a quality I much admire in a dinosaur.
But he can be so distant and so peculiar at times, thought the Lovely Other Dinosaur. He is also overly fond of Things. Are all Dinosaurs so overly fond of Things? But her mind skips from here to there so quickly, thought the Dinosaur. She is also uncommonly keen on Shopping. Are all Lovely Other Dinosaurs so uncommonly keen on shopping?

I will forgive his peculiarity and his concern for Things, thought the Lovely Other Dinosaur. For they are part of what makes him a richly charactered individual. I will forgive her skipping mind and her fondness for shopping, thought the Dinosaur. For she fills our life with beautiful thought and wonderful surprises. Besides, I am not unkeen on shopping either.

Now the Dinosaur and the Lovely Other Dinosaur are old. Look at them. Together they stand on the hill telling each other stories and feeling the warmth of the sun on their backs.

And that, my friends, is how it is with love. Let us all be Dinosaurs and Lovely Other Dinosaurs together. For the sun is warm. And the world is a beautiful place.

Special Women 3

Hockey, as I’m going to name her, was the first person I met at University. I got my place at University through the clearing system so was late to register my need for accommodation (should have studied more). As a result, I was allocated a shared room – you want me to move five hours from home and share a room with a random girl I’ve never met? Hockey was the random girl who had the misfortune of sharing with me. Miraculously it worked out really well, we went and explored the kitchen together and bagsied ourselves a space in a cupboard. We went and explored the bathrooms and couldn’t fathom out why there were two showers to one room – do they expect us to leave the door open so someone else can use the other shower? We went and explored the student union together and conquered the dance floor.

After a couple of months Hockey applied to get a single room on her own not because of me, I hope, but because she wanted her own space. This worked out well as it meant I then had a double room all to myself. She continued to use our kitchen and we continued to be friends. We lived four doors away from each other in second and third year and then in fourth year when we decided to move back to University accommodation we decided to share again (with Cee).

The stress of final exams, dissertations, our uncertain future plus the usual domestic disputes* meant that we finished our final year on a less positive note. Hockey could be quite hard work in an over the top enthusiastic, seriously you cannot function at those sorts of energy levels all the time type way**. After graduation, we made a half hearted attempt at keeping in touch but soon it became a text at Christmas and New Year.

Just over a year ago, Cee randomly bumped into Hockey in the street, they chatted briefly, exchanged email addresses and agreed to arrange a reunion with London (an introduction coming soon) and I. We all got on brilliantly, chatting for hours. We have met up several times since and have been in regular email contact. Hockey has been incredibly helpful to me as she was planning her wedding at the same time. She came dress shopping with me on a couple of occasions and has sent me loads of useful links and tips and hints. Hockey got married 17th April and threw a wonderful party (despite the ash cloud which meant some guests couldn’t get there), she made an incredibly beautiful bride – really, it is a shame she’ll only get to be a bride once as she was born for the part.

I’m so glad that we are back in touch she has been the most amazing friend over the last year.

*Hockey used to leave piece of chicken in a freezer bag on the work surface to defrost the rest of the flat residents felt that this should have been on a plate to collect the defrost juice.

**She has definitely mellowed.

You might have guessed, by the name I’ve given her, that Hockey played hockey – I didn’t, in fact I got bullied by the hockey team in high school so I didn’t really have a good impression of the sport and those that play it, not to generalise but the University hockey team weren’t that friendly either. I think however that she got the worse end of the stick though as she had to put up with my stinky riding boots and crop – oh-er missus (sorry couldn’t resist).

Special Women 2

Not only do I have two Mums and a fantastic Mum-in-law, I also have an extra sister in my best friend who I'm going to call Cee. I’m not sure where she fits in the #1, #2 and #3 rankings as she is 17 days younger than me (a fact she likes to gloat about), however she is also the eldest of three sisters and often treats me like a younger sister. Cee is infinitely wise but a total klutz, the first words she uttered in my presence, on our third day at university, were ”I’ve just spent ages lost on a flight of stairs,” stairs go up, stairs go down, how do you get lost? - was my reaction. To be fair our halls of residence did have two flights of stairs per corridor and she had been on the wrong one so every time she came out at a floor it looked totally wrong – now I've known her for nearly 11 years that story is the tip of the iceberg of the scrapes she can get herself into.

Cee is the only real life person (apart from O) who knows about the blog, in fact I told her before I told him. Why? Well she has a blog too and was brave enough to tell me about it. If she ever gets back to writing on her blog – she hasn’t for over 2 years (nag) and if she gives me permission I will share it with you, she is hilarious. Why the massive break? Because she has spent the last two years studying for an MSc, she got married and her job got horrible.

Cee welcomed me into her family from the start. She supported and distracted me while I was horribly homesick and not very together. I hope, I supported and distracted her while some members of her family weren’t very together. I love her little sisters as if they were my own. Oh and her grandparents are ah-mazing! Although don’t get her Gran to pour you a drink or you could end up under the table there is nothing like a small measure when Gran Cee is around.

Having lived together for the majority of our university life we decided after graduation that we would go travelling to Canada together. We spent 2 months travelling from Vancouver to Montreal on a greyhound bus with a sly trip to Seattle and New York at either end because it was cheaper to fly in and out of the USA. We had some adventures, we met some characters, we sang to some bears (we were trying to scare them and if you could hear our singing voices you would know that we succeeded in terrifying all nearby living creatures). We had a glass of wine in a Fairmont hotel, we battled a hurricane in Kingston, we scared ourselves witless in Montreal and we had an amazing time!

For what feels like FOREVER she has been battling with this blessed MSc until earlier this month when she has discovered that she passed. I am so over the moon happy for her as I’m acutely aware of all the hard work she has put in. Acutely aware because it has meant that my bestest friend has not been at my beckon call, has had to cancel lunches/dinners so that she could study/cram for an exam and has been stressed to the nth degree. The cheek of it, do I sound suitably spoilt and ungrateful? Good because I’ve missed the heck out of her and can not wait to have her back.