Showing posts with label Life Lessons. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Life Lessons. Show all posts

Monday, 6 August 2018

Blast From The Past!

Hello there, 


Sushi. Is. Life. After the past year maybe of eating shop faux Sushi made from a combination of chicken and seafood, I have finally made the leap to a mainstream sushi bar. Yo! Sushi in Milton Keynes is I am sure probably farthest from genuine and authentic and Asian or Japanese influenced cuisine, however without the luxury of the big smoke to indulge my curiosities in I was forced to seek out as close to the real thing as I can get my little mitts on, Cali-rolls and Spice-Tuna-Things for the win! 

To say that I thoroughly enjoyed seeing Miss Tweedle-Dee and it was good to try new things whilst doing my favourite thing with my wages and in my preferred method or socialising, eating out. I am not quite sure what made me feel so good about sushi and hanging out with my best friend - Maybe it was the delight of combining my two favourite things or maybe it was the fact that I was feeling much better in myself. A a good catch up and long chat about anything and everything life had to offer us at the moment was certainly what I needed. Whilst my counselling and therapy has stopped for the short time whilst I am between therapists and Private Vs. NHS, I am taking my medication which seems to be doing it's job. 

Not long before we finished our meal and headed home I approach the subject that I had been wanting to bring up for a while. I felt as though my Tweedles were about the only people I could talk openly and honestly about how I felt without being judged or criticised. Not even Mr. Warehouse would understand I think?! You see waaay back in the days of short pleated school skirts and thick black eyeliner, there was one of the first Mr's in my life. Mr. Woof. Now let me introduce Mr. Woof to you all, (unless you have been reading along since the beginning and then you will already know who Mr. Woof well and truly is from the Viewer Discretion / NSFW earlier days of writing). 

Mr. Woof and I had been friends since meeting in the second year of High School and pretty much as soon as we met our liaisons began. In class and the playground, Mr. Woof was quite shy when it came to being in 'public' as it were with me, even being seen around each other was a no-no, but away from it all and what I used to refer to as the "spotlight" he was a completely different person, almost caring or even loving in a way, something that was never shown when around others. As we got older the intensity was stepped up with more secret meets at lunch and break, soon progressing to after school and even into our Saturday morning GCSE revision classes. But the more we played with each other, both metaphorically and emotionally the more I suffered. The double life we both lead between not talking to each other and almost bullying each other whilst in the company of friends and others was a stark comparison to the electricity we shared alone. But I knew what I was doing, course I did, any sixteen year old does. It was fun and I enjoyed the secrecy of it all. The secret little affair with the boy who I had a stupidly major crush on for ages and who was dating one of my closest school friends. Yeah, I definitely thought I knew it all (and probably still do) thinking that it will all be so different when we leave High School and go to Sixth Form or College, we can finally be together! Haha what a fool ... 

After school ended we went our separate ways, developed as people and went into study. I went on to have several partners, settling down with a few serious ones who loved me no matter the company we were in. Whereas Mr. Woof attempted university, dropped out only to discovered drink and drugs all the while continuing to think that his rock band would become the next big thing. Over the years he turned into something of a misogynistic womaniser and was well known for being a Harlequin around town. Nevertheless though Mr. Woof made an appearance throughout my love-life, weather I was with someone or not, however it must be noted that none of my ex-partners ever took a liking to him and we were always strictly friends when I was in a relationship as being faithful has always been something I fiercely uphold after some hiccups in my earlier years of teenage-living and my fathers betrayal. 

Mr. Woof and I had lost contact for a while after Mr. Workaholic had banned me from communicating with him, but got back in touch a few months after we split. It started as it always had and at that moment the friendly voice of someone familiar was just what I craved. At the time I was amidst a messy break-up Miss Tweedle-Dee handed me the trilogy of books by E. L James; 'Fifty Shades of Grey', 'Fifty Shades Darker' and 'Fifty Shades Freed'. I. Was. Hooked. I couldn't put them down, like everyone I suppose. I decided then to embark on something of my own contract. We had come a long way from my Teenage Dreams Days and so after getting back in contact, Mr. Woof and I began another momentary lapse of loosing our inhibitions and giving into our lustfulness for something we knew so well. Only this time I had some level of control. I had just come out of a long term relationship and wanted something intimate, exciting and confidence boosting. Something NSA to make me smile and brighten up my otherwise gloomy days. I suppose in a sense he was the rebound?! When I talk about it like that it seems as though Mr. Woof was using me to the highest of advantages; abusing the trust and vulnerability of an old friend who was dealing with heartbreak. But I was as much to blame in that as he was. I wanted and needed attention.  I was lacking it both in my job as well as socially as friends and family who lived far from my door. I needed a little something I could dip into as and when I wanted and we weren't hurting anyone. 

After sometime however the novelty soon wore off and we again drifted apart, not through Malice or animosity but simply due to life moving off. Over the next few years of difficult dating dilemmas and finally finding someone I really care about I will be honest and say that I thought about Mr Woof less and less. Until that is the other day when I stumbled across an old social media page. I had seen his profile picture and was intrigued to see what he was up to and we had both changed. I knew that he had got married and settle down with some plain-Jane type. I was certainly not prepared for what was to come. 

Clicking the pages on his social media I discovered that not only had he propose and dedicated his life in marriage, but that he now had a child. Knocking me sideways I was taken aback. I don't know, it is not that I am jealous of his wife and young family, far from it and if anything I am glad that he has found his calling in life as a Dad. Maybe it was the fact that in all of our time together, on or off, we had never discussed marriage or kids, even if the intention was not each other. Then again he is a man and they do not tend to discuss marriage for kids as women do. It is just a little surreal for me to think that someone I thought would never even get married or settle down with anyone is now a father and husband. Oh how things change I suppose. 

It has been playing on my mind a lot over the last few days since finding out last week and I just can't put my finger on it. But as I explained in depth and detail, more than I have here to you, Miss Tweedle-Dee looked at me with a strange expression played across her face as the sushi Carousel continue unknowingly. She didn't need to tell me twice that I was sounding weird and creepy. I came away from our short and brief conversation about Mr. Woof and his family with a heaviness in my heart knowing that time is inevitably ticking along and will soon catch up with me if I am not careful and seeing someone I knew happy makes me feel a little weird about adulting now in the real world. Ahhh someone take me back to the simpler days of Emo bands, short pleated school skirts and thick black eyeliner! 

'Til next time, Love A.Lou xx

Monday, 22 May 2017

Life Lessons From My Step-Dog

Hiya, 

So here I am on a Monday evening following a fairly low-key weekend attempting to write for you all but being distracted by simply how cute and playful my step-pooch is. Switching between writing and playing with the 8-year-old Blonde Labrador I struggle not to feel completely overwhelmed when I look at her little face. 

The funny thing is that as I said before, she is not even my dog, not really anyway. I met Pooch when Mr. Warehouse introduced me to her in the Autumn of 2014. It was love at first sight with a friendship that would only get stronger with time. She has learnt to trust me and accept that I, along with her doggy-dad, we mean business. Over the course of the last two-and-a-half-years, the fluff-ball and I have shared secrets and plans with one another - OK mainly me telling her all my plans, secrets and surprises. But strangely she has also been there for me. In times of absolute joy as well as despair, pooch has been the one I have thought of most. When I failed my driving test she was the one I came home too disappointed to tell her. When I passed my driving exam the second time around I couldn't wait to get home if only to share in the news that our adventures would not be restricted by public transport. And when I had to make the tough decision about leaving the workplace I loved so dearly, she was the one I talked things through with. 

You see this is something that some of you might not understand and not in an ignorant way, but especially so if you have never owned a dog. I am not stupid, I get that the pup can't understand me and is just a simple animal, domesticated over years in order to satisfy the human race in many different forms. Of course the dog is not able to have deep discussions about what is the right move up the career ladder, nor what financial decisions need to be made. I would laugh if they did for I am almost certain that our entire household budget would be spent on dog-treats and balls. But on a more serious not they feel you, and what you are experiencing, far better than a cat could do. Dogs sense when their owners are ill or upset, and comfort you when feeling blue. They are always happy to see you and are something that you are solely responsible for. 

I wonder if parents feel the same way? The need to care and look after something that is so much more precious and fragile than yourself. Even though she is nearly fifty in dog years, she certainly does not let her age get her down and goes around her daily business acting as though she is still a puppy. Her little quirks and personality traits certainly makes for good company and I am forever imagining what kind of fun we could have if she was able to talk and tell me what she is really thinking instead of me commentating her little world in a deep and course male voice. I don't know why ... It just comes out like that in my head?!

It is sometimes so overwhelming I feel like crying, and I am not ashamed to say that on the odd occasion I have. I could easily watch her for years just sleeping, as a mother with her newborn, many a time choosing to gaze over Mr. Warehouse's Pup rather than watch whatever is on the box. When she is asleep she is at ease with the world and dreaming of all the wonderful things in a dogs life. Chasing cats just to play with them, millions of tennis balls and sticks I am sure litter every pup's dreams, but for our little one I am sure that eating ice-cream on a warm day, cuddling on the sofa with a film and having adventures with Mr. Warehouse and I are all at her disposal when she is in the land of nod. 

This weekend felt like a proud moment for Mr. Warehouse and I as we took the furball down to the local country park, one of many that surrounds Bedford. Down to the soft gravelly beach we went alone on the shore as the weather swelled. Entering the lake our pooch got stronger and stronger with each toss of her favourite tennis ball. The braver she got the further out she went until eventually we saw what we had waited for. Little paws paddling towards the shore. She was swimming. A proud moment considering her age and what she had been through the last few months with her Pyometra and Hysterectomy operation. I thought to myself as I looked at the little wet face in front of me, big brown eyes begging me for one more go in the cool water "There was a point I didn't think you were gonna make it pup". 

I would like to think that one day, when I have my own babies, that I would be able to look back on the beginnings of my little family with Mr. Warehouse and know that pooch, albeit playful, sleepy and bolshy all at the same time sometimes; She would have taught me all the things I need to be as a parent. Patience. Compromise. Discipline. Leadership. Ownership. Fun. Friendship. Compassion. Caring. Loving. All these life skills you have taught me pup, and I am forever grateful. Hopefully, despite your later years in life, you will be there to welcome home my babies one day and show them the same toothy smile you showed me all those many moons ago dear friend. 

'Til next time, Love A.Lou xx