February

The month flew by and now here we were scarily flying through Holmfirth in Dani's little car 'The  Princess Pussy Wagon' to The Crossroads pub where tonight's dinner was to be held. It was eerily quiet inside, a little smelly and I was being  blinded by seventies style carpet that I was pretty sure decorated my Grandma's home in the eighties.  Our expectations of the venue were low and my dinner of roast turkey did indeed remind me of my traumatic Sunday dinners as a child, being force fed cauliflower and trying to hide watery carrots in my pocket. To sum it up the place wasn't that 

 great but the company was making up for it...we somehow ended the meal discussing passport photos...I had just had a rather fetching one done that could confuse passport control into thinking I was Cher. Phoebe pulled out her driving licence to reveal that she was in fact a Russian murderess and Danielle revealed that she had no eyes and a squashed head. We dissolved into a fit of giggles as we posed seriously next to our pictures trying to avoid the impending task of presenting our terrible themes. I was embarrassed, it was clear the task hadn't had the desired effect and we had all struggled to find something different to do with our days. It had only reminded me that life is hard when you have to balance work with family life and it's difficult to find time for yourself to do something different each day.

But I was proud of the girls...they tried really hard and some of the different things they did each day were interesting and fun...my favourite was Phoebe's picture of herself in the shower wearing a new, flowery shower cap! We agreed that it wasn't the best task but I think the girls understood why I chose it. Routine isn't always a bad thing and there's no shame in watching Come Dine with Me every night if you want to, but it has taught me to get out there and try and do something different every now and again, probably not every day but whenever I can.

I don't think we'll be visiting The Crossroads again, Amanda's pursed lips were enough to show her disapproval. But for the friendly staff and the most basic of basic food it's the perfect place to take your Grandma. Maybe one day I will visit there again, if it's still around when I'm eighty...it could be my something different to do that day.

Catherine