Gosh what a miserable day, grey and sleety and damp and horrid. I don't mind crisp, cold winter days but this kind really makes me feel depressed. My left knee is aching dreadfully and it is because of the damp. I really feel in dire need of sunshine at the moment. Will just have to wait until my Oz trip in February.
On balance, though this has been the year my second grandchild Beatrice arrived, I will be glad to see the back of it. Had a holiday earlier in the year that was not really successful, I chose to go with the wrong person who accused me of being 'moribund, full of inner anger and with an inability to form relationships and a reluctance to go out and meet people' and seemed to derive no pleasure at all from the fact we were staying, courtesy of my sister, in a five star hotel/apartment with two swimming pools in Funchal, Madeira. By the end of the week I had fallen rather silent which probably lead to the moribund accusation. Never mind, this friend is no longer in my life. She wrote to me that she had done all she could for me and I needed help. Odd you can know somebody for 12 years and realise that they have totally misread you as a person and know nothing about you. So end of friendship. I am shedding no tears.
On the other hand I have shed tears this year over the loss of a very dear friend Sue, who I had known for 26 years and who I miss greatly. Then next week I am attending a memorial service for the loss of another, Josephine, again somebody I have known for over 25 years and just feeling a tad fed up at the moment. This will pass I know as I have a lot to be thankful for and will be in London later on today to see my family which will make me feel better. Then tomorrow I am meeting up with another friend for lunch, gossip, chat and attendance at a Christmas Fair so I must stop feeling sorry for myself.
On Wednesday I went to London with, yes another friend (I really must let me ex friend know that I can form relationships!!). Her name is Lynette Allen and here is her website. She was hosting a Round Table event about women in the workplace and what needs to be done to make sure women have confidence enough in their abilities to aim for a place on their Board, how to progress and how to encourage firms to enable this. All very interesting and I was there to take notes and produce a report after the day. The women attending were of a very high calibre indeed, all involved in HR and Equality with legal and professional backgrounds and listening to what they had to say was incredibly stimulating. I only wish this sort of support had been available when I was working but glad that the current generation of women will receive assistance to achieve their aims. Very clear that this needs to start at a very early age with girls whose main ambitions, according to a recent report, seem to be marring a footballer or becoming Cheryl Cole. Dispiriting.
But a great day only marred by the fact that I had to be at the station in Colchester by 6.15 am. I have not been up that early for yonks. Well, perhaps that is untrue, I have been up that early on occasions over the last few months but that has been to watch cricket so a different matter entirely. Stood on the platform with Lynette, both of us shivering and shaking in the cold and watching the snow come down and the only thing that kept me going was knowing that this was a one off and that when I went to bed that night I could sleep late the next morning.
A good day though and the old grey cells certainly got moving again. My thanks to Lynette for asking me to come along.
I had to go into Colchester yesterday, roots needed doing, hair needed cutting etc and I did a bit of Christmas shopping for my mate Rosemary who cannot get into town these days, and half an hour of fighting my way through crowds and heated stores just reminded me how glad I was that I had done all my shopping online. And have people always been this rude and discourteous or am I just turning into an even grumpier old bag than I have always been? That is rhetorical question by the way, please don't reply....
By end of the afternoon I had had enough and when a large overweight man with belly, tracksuit and trainers became the fourth or fifth person to bash into me as he was too busy texting on his bloody phone, I completely lost my temper and let rip. He stood totally bewildered and looked at me 'Ay? Wot?' with a bemused expression on his face totally unaware of why I was cross (he never stopped texting by the way while all this was going on) and I just looked at his wobbly pasty gormless face and thought Oh forget it Elaine and walked away.
So I shall be very glad to hug Beatrice, Florence and Helen this afternoon.
Made a note to make sure I set the box to record It Takes Two tonight as I like to keep tabs on Strictly. However, I note that on tonight's Friday Panel they have one Katherine Jenkin so I think I will give it a miss. Simpering from the Blond Barbie is likely to finish me off completely.
Rant over
Au reservoir
