SeptemberSpecialTimes

Sisters in Brum

So I know there's been quite a few blue/grey posts recently.  But please don't fret. Yes, I was particularly sad one day, but I've also been writing quite a lot about colour.  And actually, September has been a month of celebrations, and there's been a lot of happy times.  Mainly because the celebrations have been cause for gatherings, and gatherings mean being with people, people that I love, and don't get to see as much as I would like.  So I am feeling very thankful once again for the beautiful friends and family I have.

Life can feel a bit lonely as we all get down to the daily grind and energies get taken up with basically surviving from one day to the next, one paycheck to the next, etc.  There's only a few friends I now see regularly, and even that is not enough!  It's easy to start worrying that we've drifted apart, that perhaps we are not really that close any more.  And sure relationships change, and sometimes we do drift apart - my Mum was right - you cannot hold onto every single person you meet, but just because a relationship changes doesn't mean it's the end.  There are friends with whom I walked everyday a few years ago, and now I'm lucky if I see them twice a year.  I don't know the ins and outs of their daily lives.  I'm not always there with a hug when they are sad, and we often don't know how good or how hard life is for each other until afterwards.  But that's OK, I think.  As long as we do get those face to face times every once in a while.  When we'll talk about everything or nothing much and all the variations in between.  And we'll make ourselves comfortable in each other's homes without thinking.  And we'll be very honest.  And we'll hug lots.  And we'll be thankful to know each other.

Poetry night in LDN

So hooray for birthdays and anniversaries and weddings and friends making trips over to England from Greece and France (Joey and Heloise and Keena!)... (and Devon and London - Annah and Louise and Helen!)

                                 

Spectacular birthday faces

My birthday was especially fun.  Last year I turned 25 and was on honeymoon, so while it was lovely, it was just the two of us, and then we never got round to that housewarming party in our last flat (people would have had to come in shifts anyway!), so this year I really wanted to do something.  I get a bit funny about birthdays, I guess a lot of us do in different ways.  It's not that I'm bothered about getting old, it's more that it seems a chance for old insecurities to get the better of me - mainly that people won't come/remember/want to celebrate/be that bothered.  Silly perhaps, but that's the nature of those voices in our head that say all sorts of unhelpful things.

Brighton originals

Anyways, everything worked out OK.  It was great to have a flat full of faces that are so familiar and dear to me, and to be able to introduce friends to each other, and have a few drinks, and then to dance the night away.  Hooray hooray hooray.  Happy day.  THEN the following day, my flatmate cooked a huge roast which we shared with old housemates, and on my actual birthday Mr Q cooked me breakfast, and we watched a cheesy film, and after work MORE friends came for some girly times of massage, nail polish and ice-cream.  So I am a lucky girl, and I guess I just wanted to say Thanks to everyone who has been a part of make this month such a good one.  I am so blessed to know you.

Always a joy to see friends at weddings