It’s my birthday! It’s a so-called ‘big’ one too, which I thought I was fine about, and then I woke up and went, ‘Oh no, I’m FORTY! WAAAAHHHH!’
It’s funny how numbers play such a big part in our lives. My youngest daughter is extremely insistent that she’s ‘Three AND A HALF’ at the moment (she isn’t, she’s three and three-quarters, but we’re not splitting hairs). When you’re a child, every quarter makes a big difference. I can remember feeling faintly embarrassed that, at the age of 12, I was in love with a boy who was a whole nine months younger. It made a big difference back then.
For the past few years I have occasionally forgotten my exact age, because it just hasn’t seemed to matter. But now I have a number with a ZERO in it again, and whoooaaa, I’m not sure I like it!
So, to lessen the pain of moving into a new decade, I am celebrating LOTS of nice things today:
- a handmade card from my 7-year-old, proudly proclaiming ‘I Love You’ *melts*
- wonderful cuddles from my children
- sympathy and support from my husband, who faces the same birthday in only two days’ time and is struggling with it just as much as I am. We’re planning an extra nice weekend 🙂
- over a hundred messages from friends on Facebook wishing me a happy birthday
- some lovely presents from very kind people
- a hot chocolate with a shot of Cointreau in it, instead of my morning decaf coffee. YUM. Accompanied by two pieces of delicious home-made tiffin from my friend and neighbour Esther. YUM YUM
- an acceptance on a new book – a short one for young children which I’m really looking forward to writing!
- The arrival of my advance copy of ELECTRIGIRL!!! Not published until 4th Feb (though there are already reviews on Amazon which are making me VERY HAPPY), this beauty has reached me TODAY, which is just PERFECT and reminds me that time means nothing, since this book has been in development for three years and sometimes I thought it would never happen!
Wherever you are and whatever you’re doing today, I hope you can make a list of nice things too! Happy Friday!
Jo Cotterill 