Mostly, I sat down. There was good food, nice orange juice and tremendous company.
Saturday night was the night of my exceptional and long-time friend, Gemma. She is to be married in August, and she'd invited a very small group of her family and friends to join her for her Hen Night. I was DELIGHTED to be asked; more so that I could go. Initially, I was concerned I wouldn't enjoy it, but I surpassed my usual low expectations of myself. I was chatting to people I'd not seen for years, to people I'd only just met, striking up conversations with them. Get me! Yeah. I'm almost, like, normal? But, like... not? Yeah.
Sea bass on crushed potatoes with side vegetables was my dinner. No starter. Always too much for me and my wee stomach. Veg - lovely, very tasty, but not cooked enough for me, as my gut later pointed out when I had the indigestion/colic pains of old. Vanilla and champagne ice cream on a doughnut. Plus strawberry thingy... erm... anyway, that, like the main course, was also delicious. I blame the ice cream for my fabulous tispy giggling for the rest of the night. Anti-depressants + even a tiny amount of alcohol = a bit tipsy. Hoorah! I thoroughly enjoyed it. Cheap, sweet wine, anywhere? Lady Palmer wants some to add to her ice cream to be "merry" now and then.
So, aside from the food, the laughs, the observations of the locals, the fellow guests/diners, the clothes and all manner of other aspects were hilariously observed by lovely Gem, lovely Little Gem and Little Old Me.
EVEN I - yes - did some minor shuffling on the dance floor. The shuffling was because of my knees and the pain that has become virtually constant for nigh on two weeks. The pain has got so bad now that I have invested in a stick. YES. A WALKING STICK. So, I shuffle about the house, in the garden to get more perennial peas to put in the little vase in the kitchen, to get to the kitchen to make a cup of tea... don't want to keep taking tablets to relieve some of the pain. Not more painkillers. But I'm going to. I want to JOG at least SOME of the 5k course. As I am currently, it seems unlikely. Not impossible, but unlikely. But I WILL DO IT. I promise you, if you've donated to my page and, therefore, sponsored me, I WILL COMPLETE THE COURSE.
But back to Saturday night.
It was the second Saturday evening/night in a row I'd been out. The week before, I had gone to the theatre to see a dear friend perform his very entertaining show. At times, I laughed so much (audience participation in these parts is always "interesting"), my stomach hurt and my eyes were leaking. Good times. And the same hearty, honest, thrilling laughter happened on Gem's night. I loved it. Both nights. For completely different reasons. Each time, I had spent time with a friend who means a lot to me.
I was able to do these things, because of a lack of periods. It's nice not having them, admittedly, but there are many negatives to this situation.
I think, though, Kotex must be wondering what's happened to their sales... and so, now, I am about to go to my GP to have my fourth injection. A chat about my knees and the pain and the 5k, and my prospects, generally, are on the cards. Has this course of injections been a good thing to do? Is it really worth it? The knee pain? The depression? The fatigue which constantly drags me down?
Well?
As for spending such important time with such wonderful people, I really would not have missed them for anything in all the world.
