Wednesday 16 September 2009

Real life dramas

My writing continues to be neglected - for all the best reasons. Baby Noah is now one week old - actually I don't think I've recovered yet from the angst and eventual excitement of last Monday, in fact I think my daughter has recovered better than I have!!

Added to which, we've also just had the excitement of Eldest Daughter's hen weekend. I feel very grateful that I was invited on all three of my lovely daughters' hen weekends. I know these occasions are mostly for their own friends, and would not have expected an invite but was hugely honoured. All three of them have been fantastic fun and despite being (very nearly) an OAP, I wasn't treated as an old fogey by any of the girls! On this occasion, we stayed in a big house in the outskirts of Bath.
It was a beautiful place, with lots of rooms, a big kitchen and dining room, big garden with a sauna - just perfect.

On the Saturday night we dressed up the 'Hen', as you'd expect, and as we were going into Bath for the evening, it had been agreed we should all wear the appropriate headgear - bath hats!

Unfortunately during the course of the evening the Hen took a bit of a tumble on the dance floor and ended up with a painful swollen wrist. The next day we made her a sling out of a scarf, gave her painkillers and suggested ice and elevation - all of us convinced she'd sprained it.

When we got home it was still painful so her fiance took her to A&E to have it checked out. It turned out to be fractured - and was put in a temporary cast. My poor daughter was distraught, as the wedding is now only two and a half weeks off and not only was she facing the prospect of getting married with her arm in plaster but the possibility of her honeymoon being postponed. Apparently some airlines won't fly anyone wearing a cast because of DVT risks.

Well, after a worrying couple of days, we've been back to the fracture clinic today and although she's now in a proper cast, on hearing the circumstances, the doctor immediately agreed it could come off before the wedding and be replaced by a splint, which in turn can come off for the wedding ceremony. I feel almost as worn out by the trauma of all this as the bride-to-be does!

I'm sure this will all find its way into a story before too long ... what a shame I wrote 'Tales From a Hen Weekend' a few years back. Hmm. 'More Tales from more Hen Weekends'??

I've had one short story accepted by People's Friend recently, and one rejected, so my score for the year hasn't changed much! The rejected story has of course been turned around and sent back out again.

Meanwhile ... I'm busy with preparations for my Big Special Birthday party this Saturday, and praying hard that it won't be a cold, wet evening as there will be about 40 people here and we need to open the doors onto the garden or we'll be sitting on each other's laps. And there's yet another exciting piece of news - on returning from the Hen Weekend, my daughters announced that their birthday present to me from themselves and their 'other halves' is: tickets for the Coldplay concert at Wembley this Friday!! I am SO excited - I've wanted to see Coldplay live for ages - what a fantastic present.

What with all the form-filling-in that seems to be necessary for the privilege of becoming an OAP - pension claim forms, forms for the Taxman (over and above the usual annual tax return, which I haven't faced yet), bus pass form (good one, that!), etc, etc, it's probably just as well I no longer have a Day Job, or I'd never fit in the time I need to see my baby grandson!

One more photo of him ....
... and that's me finished on the computer for tonight. Normal service will be resumed after things have calmed down a bit!

7 comments:

  1. Blimey! What a lot going on all at once! Births, weddings and birthdays.
    Hope your daughter's arm mends quickly (what a lovely doc to be so helpful).
    Noah is just gorgeous.
    And a very happy birthday to you - what a great present - the Coldplay tickets!
    Enjoy - you deserve it x

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  2. Have a happy birthday and I hope you enjoy the Coldplay concert. I'm glad your daughter's arm is on the mend and won't interfere with the wedding - you are going to have to get that into another book or short story at some point!

    I can't believe little Noah is a week old already!

    Julie xx

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  3. Thank you Teresa - yes, it was always going to be a busy few weeks but I don't think we realised quite how busy! The helpful doctor was, needless to say, female ...

    And thank you Julie. I know - the broken wrist story will certainly appear in a story at some point. As my daughter said, she's sure there will come a time when she can laugh about it, but that could be a little while off yet! Noah will be TWO weeks old on Monday - it's flying past! xx

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  4. He is gorgeous. Glad you had a good time on the hen weekend and enjoy your special birthday, Remember you're only as old as you feel.

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  5. Thanks Colette, and you're right about age. Normally I feel a lot younger than my age (but who's to say how any age is supposed to feel??) - although right now I must confess I'm tired from an overload of excitement! x

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  6. Oooh I'm both excited for you and exhausted with all the news! Noah is just beautiful and it sounds as if both he and the fractured wrist will be inspiring you for some time to come!

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  7. Thanks, Helen! Yes - feeling quite emotional about it all at the moment but I'm sure the Coldplay concert will help me get over that!
    xx

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