This is 27
Let’s gloss over the fact that this is my first blog post in over a month shall we?
It’s my 27th birthday today and as with every birthday that’s come before it since the age of about 21 when it started getting a bit same old same old, I am sat reminiscing about the last 365 days and how quick it’s gone. 27 years on this planet. In that time again I’ll be 54 and probably lived a whole other life.
I struggled to think how I celebrated my 26th birthday, this time last year seems so long again and it’s horribly cliché to say how much has changed but it really really has.
This time last year I was newly engaged, a mere 10 days and now we’re just over 3 months away from the wedding. This time last year I had only been in my job a few months and now I’ve been there getting on for a year and a half. This time last year I was auntie to one and now I am auntie to two. This time last year I had long hair and now I have short.
It’s amazing what can happen in a year and as big or as little as they come or as trivial as they may be, my life has been flipped upside down and been put right again about 20 times. The years are flying by and I think this is the first birthday I feel like I really am racing toward thirty faster than I can think.
I don’t mind ageing, I am ok with the prospect of leaving my twenties (although ask me again in about 2 and a half years). I definitely feel like I know who I am more, am more sure of my personality, of what drives me and makes me happy and what I will and won’t put up with. But I do feel a sense of ‘achieving something’ looming, like what will I have done with my 30 years on the earth.
I got together with Jos when I was 17, who knows what life I’ll be leading when I’m 37. The last ten years have flown and we have changed and grown into whole new people. I feel like we will be brand new by the end of the next ten.
So where will the next 366 days take me (hello leap year old friend)? Where will I be when I am 28? Who will I be when I am 28? I’ll be married by then, I’ll be someone’s wife…..presumably Jos’ wife tbh. The rest of the year well, who knows. I could still be in my current job, celebrating two years there, maybe having more birthday donuts with my colleagues. Maybe we’ll have been away on our first proper holiday in about 6 years, we might actually manage a honeymoon. Maybe I’ll have a new car, new piercings, rearranged the house. Maybe I’ll have pink hair again.
But, I digress. Instead of looking forward at what’s to come in the next year, few years, ten years, twenty seven years, let’s look back at the past one and as is traditional when it comes to writing a blog post for your bday, here’s 26 things I learnt in my 26th year;
I can cook a decent meal if I have the time, the ingredients and a recipe to follow.
Brexit will not end.
I just can’t cut down sugar in my tea.
I haven’t got enough time to focus on my hobbies and not enough hours in the day.
Pjs and joggers should always be bought 2 sizes too big.
Saving is great but also so is the feeling of being able to treat someone.
Reverse parking is actually loads easier than reversing out of a space.
I am an apple whore through and through.
No amount of cacti is too many cacti.
I am too emotionally invested in everyone and everything.
There is something in McDonalds chips that makes them appetising even when you’re the fullest you’ve ever been.
I still cannot blow balloons.
Baby sick is a familiar smell even after 4 years.
My leopard print obsession shows no signs of stopping.
Friday Night Dinner should be mandatory viewing.
Wedding planning is stressful, there is no two ways about it.
I will never be able to stomach mince.
Will Mellor is the best Celebrity Juice guest.
A clean house really does equate to a clean mind.
Everything can be made better with a fresh bed linen, new pjs, washed hair, painted nails and a snack with Netflix.
My collection of candles is too big for someone who hates to light candles.
Family is my priority, above all else, to the end.
It doesn’t matter how many times I say ‘I’m between a 12 and a 14’, the reality is I will never get my thighs into a 12 pair of jeans.
My mother is a saint and I would be absolutely nothing without her.
When you say ‘how much worse can it get’ it will almost undoubtedly get even worse but it will surprise you that you can get through that too.
It’s really hard to find a good mix of funny but inspirational lessons learnt to show your #struggle but also how hilarious you are.
Happy bday to me and all the other legends who were born on October 17th.
