Mayor or sofa....?....

I’m on my sofa in my pyjamas. With good reason. I have a stinkin cold. I’ve also had a week of stress due to a family member being unwell. So I’m in self imposed quarantine to give me time to make sure everyone is ok, including myself.......I’ve coughed so much the past few days that I’m totally scunnered. It just won’t stop! 

A short time ago I received a phone call. As I coughed, spluttered and tried to respond, a very pleasant lady told me she was ringing from my local Mayor’s Office to invite me to visit tomorrow afternoon. 

I’d known this call would come at some stage but the date of the event was a surprise because I’d imagine the actual invite is lying in my post tray at work as I sit on my sofa, coughing. 

I tell the story because it’s a great example of how wonderful my friends are. When the Queens Birthday Honours are announced, each Council gets a list of recipients in their area. The address used in my nomination was a Belfast one. For that reason all communications go to Belfast first before being sent on to me. So I didn’t get added to the list for my area. It really made no difference to me and the Belfast Lord Lieutenant who awarded me my medal at Hillsborough Castle was lovely. 

What I was unaware of was that everyone named on the list and living in my area was invited to the local Mayors office for a small event to congratulate them. I was oblivious..... a good friend of mine was not..... She happened to see photos of the event and jumped to defend her friend. She rang the Mayors Office and demanded to know why I hadn’t been invited! Then she rang me, mortified, and apologised profusely for her misunderstanding. She was worried she’d embarrassed me but she hadn’t at all. Once I got past the laughing, I was really touched by her gesture. She saw what she believed to be an injustice against her friend and she took action. I absolutely love her for that! She’s awesome, what a friend!

So thanks to my dear friend I have just been invited to the Mayor’s Office, but thanks to my miserable cold I can’t go. I don’t mind because the important bit of this story is how wonderful my friends are. They never fail to amaze me with their support, love and fierce loyalty. My friends are the best!! Xxx

Blogversary

Tomorrow is my 2 year blogversary. 2 years of writing crap. Hard to believe people ever read it, never mind still read it!! Here’s some 2 year numbers....

• 301 posts
• 71,410 hits
• Most viewed post - ‘I made you a promise’, with 720 hits
• 43% of hits from iPhones (I knew you were all reading in boring meetings!)
• 2 brain surgeries
• 30 radiotherapy sessions
• 2 chemotherapy sessions
• Too many scans to remember
• 4 hospital stays
• 6 months weaning off steroids
• 8 months of sea bathing
• 14 months back at work
• 4 months since I was signed out of palliative care
• 1 medal

Plenty of blogging inspiration! Xx

People and rock and culture

Busy weekend! After a busy week at work. I’m starting to think there are some ne’er-do-wells that having been waiting for me to get back so they can resume their mischief...... ‘let’s have some fun with that Analyst who left for a while......’ So busy, challenging, but keeping me moving. And as my father-in-law likes to tell me “If you’re marching, you’re not fighting.” True.

Yesterday we went to Belfast for a gig. Live music is therapy for me. I love to sing along, have a wee dance and enjoy good times with friends. Music makes me feel good, especially when it’s live.

Last night’s gig had potential to be an odd one.... a band that had split up amid much drama and I knew there’d be some attendees that I really wouldn’t want to see. I felt slightly anxious about it and almost didn’t go but we’d paid for tickets and an Airbnb..... plus I refuse to be intimidated by a few high drama types. I knew there’d be enough true friends there to make it fun and I was right. There were friends from Scotland and friends from all over NI. It was great to catch up and enjoy the band.

We stayed up in Belfast last night. If there’s one thing I love about Airbnb’s it’s the people you meet...... This morning we met a fellow guest. Mike is from England and over as part of his work with the local Buddhist community.  

As far as religions go, I’ve always felt Buddhism to be one of my favourites...... around 12 years ago we were fortunate enough to have a family holiday in Thailand and found the Buddhist people to be gentle and kind. They appear to have a natural peace that I’ve always admired. The past two years I have found myself becoming more involved in calming my mind through what are essentially Buddhist principles; time in nature, receiving and paying forward kindness, reiki, hypnotherapy, meditation..... these things help keep me moving forwards and stop me becoming hyper and spinning off into an unhealthy and anxiety driven buzz of constant activity. They allow me space to regroup and restore my energy stocks. So meeting a Buddhist and hearing more felt very much like karma. I enjoyed talking to him. With my permission (he was very careful not to ‘preach’ or force opinion on me), he taught me a chant; ‘Nam myoho renge kyo’  if my understanding is correct then this is essentially the principle that we each have the ability within us to overcome any difficulty we experience in life. I like that concept. And I believe it. Mike talked about getting back what you give out..... something that has been said to me before. And again, something I believe. 

After this we went to St George’s Market for king sized breakfast baps! For those reading this who aren’t local to NI, this is a Belfast Bap (a massive bread roll, baked so that it’s crusty on the outside and really soft and fresh in the middle...... like the bread version of an armadillo....!!), filled with sausages, bacon and a fried egg. Some people also add mushrooms, onions and sometimes even black pudding. I stick to some tomato ketchup (or ‘red sauce’ as we like to simplify it to over here!)  So, anyway, St George’s and breakfast baps. Plus a cup of tea. Perfect. We met more friends and, as ever, I made some new ones while hubby was off buying the full fry in a roll! One friend showed me a photo she’d just taken of her and Jonathan Ross! Apparently he was in the market but we didn’t see him. Probably fortunate as I’d have chatted the hind leg off him (another NIrish-ism...... just means I talk a lot).  As we got the car from a nearby multi story we heard someone singing ‘Hey Jude’ on the level just below. Unable to resist, we joined in and then shared laughter with these strangers......you get what you give.....

From St. George’s we moved on for a bit of culture and visited the Ulster Museum. I’d seen on the news that they had an exhibition of Leonardo da Vinci sketches and I wanted to see them. Hubby, as ever, went along with my every wish! He got to see the Game of Thrones tapestry...... like our very own Bayeux  Tapestry without the historical accuracy. I’ve never seen an episode so I wandered quickly through this bit and concentrated on da Vinci. I got told off for taking a photo with the flash I hadn’t even realised was on, and dutifully promised not to flash in the museum again..... ;) 

Some photos from the museum. When I picture my brain tumour, I usually see a dark cloud or a picture that someone has scribbled all over. The second photo was like seeing a da Vinci sketch of it.

Great weekend. Lots of work plans this week and then a long weekend to build myself up before lots more exciting trips over the next few months. 

#livingwith

#notmissingathing

Xx