Time flies!

We are almost a week into September, and it’ll soon be Christmas!

This coming weekend is the read through for panto (oh, yes it is!). I am hoping for a good turn out; it’s a great script, we’ve picked some cracking music and the annual pantomime is for me the highlight of the theatre’s calendar. It will be colourful, noisy and hectic, and gone in a flash (literally, as far as the Genies are concerned!).

It’s unbelievable that we have got to the panto season already, though. It seems not long ago that I was away at Easter and not even considering the niceties of rehearsal schedules, community songs and the appropriate dimensions of a dancer’s bra top.

Someone once told me that the older you get the quicker the time passes and that certainly seems to be true. Each year it seems to go quicker and quicker, and events creep up on us and pass more swiftly than the year before. Of course that can’t be the case, after all 24 hours is always going to be the same 24 hours lengthwise or worldwide chaos would ensue, but it does seem like it and I don’t know what to do to slow it down. At this rate, in another few years things will have finished before they have begun!

Mentally, I don’t feel any older than I did in my late twenties. I think I make better, more considered and less judgemental decisions now and my experience in dealing with other people and situations means I do things differently, but in my mind I am still slightly alternative and non conformist. In reality, I am probably a typical middle England Tory living in an increasingly unrealistic fantasy world. But the real difference is in my physical capacity, which is definitely reduced.

I went to bed at 8.30pm the other night. The combination of dieting (which saps your energy anyway), extra walking with the dog (actually all walking with the dog is extra because I didn’t do any walking at all before) and just the pace of life are getting the better of me. I am looking decidedly haggard, or at least I think I am. The Hubby, bless him, always tells me I look beautiful but he’s a consummate liar about that sort of thing and will say anything to make me feel better (ie stop me whinging) so I have to take it with a pinch of salt (either that or he really thinks so, in which case he’s deluded and should be committed).

Does everyone feel like this? Or have I been unlucky and allowed myself to get into an unfit, overweight and isolated state and my chickens are coming home to roost?

If other people feel like it they don’t let on, so perhaps I just don’t have any backbone and ought to pull my socks up and have a stiff upper lip (a few slightly confused metaphors there, but you get the drift). I’ve always been a cope-er, but at the moment I feel like I’m sinking. Or maybe this is the state that everyone goes through when they try and do something about their health and get fitter, because doing exercise knackers you and then you don’t have any energy for anything else until you are fit enough not to need to do the exercise in the first place? It’s always been one of life’s paradoxes that the more you exercise, eventually the more energy you have.

I’ve obviously got some way to go! And lets hope that I don’t arrive before I’ve set off.

Boxing Day - back to basics

After the excesses of yesterday (alcohol, turkey, alcohol, trifle, alcohol, cheese, alcohol, cake, alcohol, The Queen, not sure what came next but have a feeling Strictly was in it somewhere!) really felt like we needed some fresh air today. Not raining, and not very cold, so new Barbours on (mutual Christmas pressie - lovely) and rumaged amongst the 'walking' books for something not too far or too taxing that would take a couple of hours.

Found a lovely walk from Godstone to Tandridge and back across the fields, past streams and ponds with ducks, herons, rabbits but not a car in sight. I have lived round here almost all of my life and had no idea that some of the footpaths I have walked along today existed, nor the pretty ponds and picturesque lanes with enormous mansions hidden behind high hedges. Why haven't I found them? (Actually I know why - I am a lazy cow and go everywhere in the car).

It took us a couple of hours to gently stroll about six kilometres through beautiful farmland, during which time we talked to each other, laughed and got some exercise into the bargain. To get out and do that took a concerted effort of will not to be sidetracked into chores and boring jobs, but I'm glad we did. All we really needed was a labrador to run along beside us - maybe we should have stolen one.

I cannot believe that after all the shopping everyone has done over the past few weeks, and how much they are all complaining that they have no money, thousands are flocking to the sales today. I find it positively obscene that one major fashion retailer (alright, Next) opened its doors at 6am this morning in a desperate attempt to get shoppers through the door. Their poor staff have had barely 24 hours off. It shouldn't be allowed, by law! I really hope people stayed away, but I'm sorry to say that probably the sad gits didn't in the vain hope that they might get a bargain.

Let's face it, we don't really need any more clothes, kitchen gadgets, CDs or anything else come to that. The post (or increasingly pre) Christmas sales are commercialism and exploitation run rampant. I'm sure I will go to the sales, maybe next week, and complain that everything decent is gone, but as I didn't need anything anyway, I'll then keep my money rather than put it into the pockets of retailers who overcharge most of the time anyway and ought to be taught that we don't have bottomless pockets.

Now, where did I put my visa card?.....