Sunday, January 14, 2007

A Mad day

Saturday morning, and it was the first day of a maths master class, my daughter Megs was going to. Both her sisters had done the maths master class, so Megan was chuffed when she was asked to go as well. It started in Truro at 9.30, so we woke up early, got in the car, and headed for the petrol station. I went to pay and my debit card was not in my purse. Luckily I had just enough money, so I paid and we rushed back home. We looked around, panicking. It was also Meg’s birthday, and we were meeting her friends after the class to go shopping. I was thinking I’ll have no access to money over the weekend. The birthday celebrations are over, we’ll have to cancel everything. Megs felt her birthday’s were jinxed, as three years ago on her birthday my purse was stolen. I then phoned the Co-op which was the last shop I had used the card in, and it was there. By the time I picked it up, and got on the way, it was 9.15.

Registration was from 9.30 to 10.00, so I drove like a bat out of hell, driving just at the speed limit all the way, and got there at 9.55. She was in time. Due to all the assignments due in next week, I waited to have a word with someone, to see if there was anywhere I could set up my laptop. Then I heard “Jacqui”, it was my good friend Jerusha. It was so lovely to see her, especially as I was supposed to meet her just before Christmas, but didn’t as I was feeling wobbly. She lives in Falmouth, and since I started at University, we still haven’t managed to catch up. Her son was also doing the master class, so we’re going to catch up next time.

The class was at Truro college, and they were really accommodating, when I asked about doing some writing. They let me use the staff room. In the couple of hours I had, I managed to finish two assignments that make up 3000 words for one unit. It was a very successful morning. I shared the room with one of Megan’s teachers at school with his little baby, Milly, who was 14 weeks old, and a really gorgeous bubbly baby. His Partner is Meg’s maths teacher and she was delivering the course that morning.

After, we headed into Truro to meet Meg’s friends. When they arrived, I gave Megs some money, as they wanted to go off on their own. I decided to do charity shops; I didn’t want to go into clothes shops, as I knew I would end up spending money I couldn’t afford. I visited 9 charity shops, I think I know them all in Truro, and brought 8 brilliant books.

For £11.25 I brought:

Story of O by Pauline Reage
The Zahir and Like a flowing river by Paulo Coello
The time travellers wife by Audrey Niffenegger
Living by the word by Alice Walker
The mirror within by Anne Dickson
Autobiography of a Geisha by Sayo Masuda
and
Mrs Dalloway by Virginia Woolf

The first book I brought was the Story of O. I brought this out of curiosity, as I have Damien Rice’s album ‘O’. In the song ‘Amie’ the lyrics go “Amie come sit on my wall, and read me the story of O.” It turns out to be a famous erotic novel that mysteriously turned up in the hands of publishers in Paris in 1954.

I also got a couple of Paulo Coelho books. I was really chuffed to find them, as I already have 7 of his books (mainly found in charity shops). It was unusual to find books of his that I didn’t have. At a very low point, about a year ago, I didn’t have the concentration to do anything, but amazingly I was able to read, and I immersed myself in books 24/7. Paulo Coelho was an author who made me think, and helped in my recovery.

I do have a bad book collecting habit and also have many Alice Walker books. Again it was great to find one I haven’t got. I love the way she writes, how she has an amazing ability to illustrate the feelings and emotions of the characters she writes about. I like to read about history, that’s generally not told in mainstream history. Alice Walker tells the history, and the struggles, of being a black woman in early 20th century America.

I was very pleased with my purchases. Now all I need is more time so I can read them. I was feeling a bit shopped out, when I meet the girls. We started off for home, and as a birthday treat, we stopped for dinner out on the way back. When I got back I was shattered, and still had to pick up another three of Meg’s friends for her birthday sleepover.

At about seven I was able to relax, well as much as you can relax, with seven excitable teenagers in the flat. I had brought them a couple of bottles of WKD, and double checked everyone was going to have some, so they only had a bit each. As I barricaded myself in my room, I was unaware that the other girls had also brought 2 bottles of Lambrini. At around nine, I went in and found they’d drunk all the WKD, and discovered one empty Lambrini bottle. They weren’t too bad, I chatted with them for a while, and they weren’t slurring their speech, so thinking there was no more alcohol left, I was relieved, as it would wear off soon.

It didn’t wear off; they were all extremely hyper till early in the morning. When I went in again, I confiscated the other bottle of Lambrini, which luckily they hadn’t drunk much of. It was a long night, luckily nobody was ill, but they were all very loud. I stayed awake until they all finally went quiet. So all in all it was a bit of a mad day.

1 comment:

Rae said...

Hey, It really sounds like you have had a crazy weekend ! When it wasy Micayla's birthday, i got home at midnight to find my kitchen full of empty vodka bottles and oodles of drunken teenagers trying to tidy up. I also lent her my digital camera and all my graduation photos got wiped !
finally back to blogging and have created new page (couldn't remember the log in for the old one. Thought this would be a good way to keep in touch.
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx