The First One – Welcome

Welcome to my very first blog post. THANK YOU @thefruittoast, @calmblueblogger, @KerriSackville and @Woogsworld for your encouragement (although these last two may have had a few too many champers at the When My Husband Does The Dishes book launch to remember their encouragement. Nonetheless, I appreciate it). A kick in the right direction in real life and in the Twitterverse have steered me here and I am bursting with excitement.

So, at the end of this week (or the beginning of the next, depending on your religious or personal preferences) I will be celebrating my twenty sixth birthday.

I love birthdays. I really do. Family and friends, champagne, cake, gifties… what’s not to like?

But this year I’m feeling quite reflective. In a few days I will be twenty six. That’s not old by any standard, but the ten year old me imagined that the twenty six year old me would be a marine biologist, married for a while now and maybe have a baby. The ten year old me imagined success and happiness for the twenty six year old me.

The ten year old me never thought for even a second that life might get in the way.

By the time I was eighteen I was working as a dental assistant. I had two parents ill with life threatening problems. I made and froze twenty to thirty ham sandwiches on Sunday afternoons. Then I made two vats of spaghetti. Then I ironed twenty shirts. I drank like a fish on Friday nights, clinging violently to my youth. I carried on recklessly making interesting choices and slowed only for a moment upon learning the positive confirmation of my parents’ health.

The actual twenty six year old me has arrived. I’m an Executive Assistant in a city I don’t always love but I live with a man who makes me happier than I imagined I could be. I remember to do things for myself and to do things for others. But there are some things missing. I’m a list-maker. I love lists and make them, rewrite them and redistribute them regularly.

So why not make a list of goals, opportunities, hopes?

You will find my ongoing list of to-dos on my blog. I imagine it will be sometimes interesting, sometimes mundane and sometimes outrageous (one can only hope).

So, welcome. I have called my blog Flowers In My Words because I think flowers are like words. Beautiful, powerful and often poignant. I look forward to sharing my experience.