If 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:
To this:
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.
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
If we were having coffee, I would tell you that it is an absolutely glorious day here. The sun is shining, there isn’t a cloud in the sky and it’s beautifully hot – the start of what is predicted to be another heatwave. Good. I love the sun – we seem to spend months on end in the cold, rain and dark in the UK, so any change in the weather is always welcome (although I know that after a few days there will be a number of miserable people who have had enough – us Brits always like to complain about something!). I’ve taken the opportunity to appreciate it already this morning by going for a walk, the cats are indulging in a lazy snooze in the sun and The Bloke has taken himself off to one of the main parks in the city with his camera to go and bother some squirrels. I have given him the nickname of ‘Walker the Squirrel Stalker’ – he has some amazing pictures of them… in their hundreds…
Coffee conversational posts are normally saved for the weekend, but the last few days have been a roller coaster. For those who read this little blog regularly, would you expect anything else?
Suzie Speaks 
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