If We Were Having Coffee #8

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imageIf were having coffee, I would tell you that with it being Father’s Day, every area of my social media is littered with messages of love and photographs of the special men in my friend’s lives. I haven’t acknowledged this particular day in a long time. My father is very much alive, but I haven’t had any contact with him in about thirteen years, a decision that I have never regretted. I am conscious of the fact that The Bloke, my mother and many of our friends are remembering the father’s that are no longer with us and are dearly missed. However, I am thinking of my wonderful grandfather, who was one of the most wonderful men I have ever known. For those of you with amazing fathers, and for those with beautiful memories, I’m thinking of you.

If we were having coffee, I would tell you that I have just been ‘up North’ for my sister’s birthday. We went to the same place that we took our mother to for Mother’s Day, 47 King Street West, for a champagne afternoon tea and cocktails. Like the last time we visited, the food was beautiful and we all had a nice time chatting and catching up. However, as we consumed more and more alcohol, the conversation became a little more raucous than it was when we started, and very soon the pictures we were taking went from this:

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To this:

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Gorgeous.

It was fun, but by my fourth Amaretto Sours I was beginning to feel a little bit worse for wear (I’m such a lightweight). My brother-in-law picked us up, which was really nice of him as he had been feeling quite ill recently, and I felt truly sorry for him when my sister and mother decided to crank up the music and sing “Ain’t No Moutain High Enough” so loudly that passengers in other cars started to join in.

If we were having coffee, I would tell you that on Thursday I received an email from a colleague at work, requesting food donations and cleaning products for one of our families who are really struggling. After spending the last few weeks throwing myself a pity party, I felt completely ashamed of myself, particularly about complaining about spending some of my savings on vets bills for Daisy, the Dream Killer. Yes, I could have done without it, but when I looked at everything I have, I’ve got nothing to complain about – The Bloke and I aren’t rich by any means, but we don’t want for anything, often frittering our money away on things that we don’t need. We’re lucky, and we live a charmed life.

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After work, The Bloke and I had a chat about it and decided to do something. We set ourselves a budget, went to our local supermarkets and bought enough (hopefully) to last for the next two weeks for a small family. As we were walking round, it was a humbling experience when I realised that there were so many things that I take for granted when I am buying them. I don’t even bother to look at prices sometimes – I know what I like and I go and get it. When we added everything up at the end, we realised that we had spent more on a meal the other week with some friends. In fact, I spent more on my phone bill last month.

It’s inspired me further, and it got me thinking about making a difference on a wider scale and all of the local school children who won’t be eating well over the holidays because they will be unable to get a hot meal at school. My tutor group and I are going to set up a collection over the next month where we are going to ask the rest of the school to donate one thing each, and then The Bloke and I will drop it off at our local food bank before the end of term. I worked out that with nearly 1000 students and 150 staff in the school, we should be able to do something great.

If we were having coffee, I would tell you that I am going to be spending this evening catching up on Season 7 of Castle. It’s one of my favourite TV shows of all time and I was devastated at the cliffhanger at the end of Season 6… No spoilers please!!

And finally, if we were having coffee, I would tell you that I am now on Instagram – you can find me at http://www.instagram.com/suzie81speaks

What about you guys? What would we talk about if we were having coffee?

You can also find me on Twitter and Tumblr @suzie81blog, and don’t forget to check out my Facebook page http://www.facebook.com/suzie81speaks and my Pinterest page http://www.pinterest.com/suzie81speaks

 

45 thoughts on “If We Were Having Coffee #8”

  1. Your students, colleagues and the whole school community are going to miss you so much next year. The work you are doing with the food back is great. You have more than deserved a relaxing evening catching up with Castle (an excellent show!). 🙂

    And thanks for hosting another great #SundayBlogShare!

    • Thanks so much Claire, and thanks for participating in #SundayBlogShare! I doubt they will to be honest – students can quickly move on. I’ll miss some of them…

  2. It was very nice of you to make that donation. I take it you didn’t fall asleep on the train or crash into any more walls on your journey home? 🙂

  4. Love the photos, it looks like you really had a great time with your Mum. If had a coffee with you, I would tell you I am always embarrassed by the amount we spend on groceries and telephone bills. I would also tell you I am a little annoyed with my boys right now because I asked them to do one thing, and it has become a huge issue. They expect me to jump when they ask me to do things, but it never quite seems to work in return. I find that quite irritating. But I feel better now I have had coffee and told someone. Thank-you!!!!

    • Thank you! I did indeed have a good time with the fa,ily, although I must admit I was a bit embarrassed when it was obvious that the other tables weren’t impressed!
      After working with teenagers for years I am still surprised by how selfish and thoughtless some of them can be. But then again, perhaps I was the same. It’s all the fun of being a parent I suppose….

  5. I love this series, Suzie. Father’s Day is kinda rough especially on Social Media where everyone seems to have these awesome dads. I am due for a coffee with the blogosphere I think as I would tell about my cat’s great checkup and remission & my break-up with with my boyfriend.

  6. Sounds like a great dinner—wish I could have that sort of dinner with my fam, but it’s not quite like that.

    And I know what you mean about dads. My husband’s family doesn’t speak to his dad, either, so it’s a bit of an odd day around here, too.

    Glad you joined us, and what a wonderful thing you and the Bloke are doing! 🙂

  7. It looks like you refined ladies had one hell of a good time!!
    Your donation idea is a great one! A lot of times the meal a child receives at school is the only meal they receive.

    • We had a lovely time thanks!

      It bothers me when I see some of the children on their way to school in a morning – they’re so skinny and their skin is almost translucent. They need feeding up and looking after…

  8. Ooh I like the idea of the “if we were having coffee” posts 😀 Did you start doing that or was that a wordpress suggestion or such?

    Well done on donating food for the children. We often don’t see much of what’s going on behind the scenes regarding poverty. People don’t like to take off their masks. And we ourselves live in such an amount of waste and things we take for granted that it’s always good to make a stop and think and do something about it – donating being the best way. You can be proud of yourself ❤

    • Aww, that’s a really nice thing to say – thank you! I’ll let you in in a secret – I don’t like coffee. I’d probably be drinking a soft drink instead. And there would be cake.

  10. If we were having coffee we’d talk about the small things in life that make us laugh and keep us from falling over the edge. Hopefully it would be in a Vic and Bob kind of way (hope you like them?), surreal but side splittingly funny. A lovely piece, glad you had a good day.

  11. I get you on the father’s day stuff; normally I avoid social media on certain holidays, especially parent-themed ones. Glad you had a good time with your mother and sister 🙂

    • Thanks my lovely – I’m careful not to say too much because I’m conscious of the fact that there are so many who would give anything to have just another day with their families, and others who see these sorts of posts as a trigger. It’s always a difficult time…

  14. Thanks for the cuppa, I love the image of your mum and sister singing loudly in the car sounds ace. Also I’m not sure 4 amaretto sours counts as being a light weight. I have a similar effect after a couple of pints nowadays.

  15. SUSIE ,
    It’s great to see that you are donating food and contiue to help children. I think your blog keeps getting better. I am glad you are writing full time. I have a new website any suggestions?

    All the Best
    LORI E@ LORISLITTLELESSONS

  17. You’re lucky to have gfs on father’s day. I wish I did! 🙂 I like Castle too! That’s for sharing your day.

      • Aww that’s sweet! I actually just moved to Houston from los Angeles and the people are nice here so I’m sure that will change soon. Thx for the upbeat blog!

  18. Enjoyed the coffee share. I can relate as far as fathers go. My father is dead but it’s a mixed bag really. He abused me as a child and our last contact was the week he died which was tricky. Thanks for sharing your story. 🙂

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