Musings on a Life Quite Ordinary

Sometimes I wonder if I really am a middle aged gay man trapped in the body of a barely this side of 40 straight woman.   That’s how the playlist on my iPod was described to me by a child recently.   Very advanced these days kids, aren’t they?   I was fifteen before I realised to some people gay wasn’t just the man who used to host the Late Late Show every Saturday night.    Yes I am definitely old enough to remember when it was on Saturday nights. The first of my closest friends turned 40 this week.   She’s fabulous and taking everything in her stride.   I want to be too.   It’s got me thinking, I’m doing some positive stuff like writing my non bucket bucket list.   But then I go and try out expressions like “Oh no you di ent!” and saying ummmm hummm in a really exaggerated way with my lips stuck out like I fell asleep face down in a bowl of collagen.   Thankfully my children aren’t old enough yet to be embarrassed by me. I thin...

I have a guilty pleasure. It is situation comedies.   You know those silly ones, where everyone looks like they just stepped out of a salon even at seven in the morning.   They go through divorces like it’s the most fun thing in the world.   Have really funny friends who are always there, no need to go to work, deal with their own lives, they’re permanently on tap for the leading lady or man of the show.   Everyone has incredible clothes and really clean houses with beautiful furnishings.   You know the type of program I mean. Have you ever noticed how they always have unending fresh pots of coffee in their spotlessly clean percolators?   That fascinates me; if I’ve got coffee in my pot first thing in the morning, it’s usually because I forgot to clean it out the night before. Anyway, the point of this musing is that one of these comedies involves a woman who throughout her career as a full time Mum has been putting together a list of all the things she...

Is it just me or is everything getting harder? There seems to be so much more to deal with nowadays. If it’s not one thing, it’s another.   Like trying to achieve things that have been beyond my reach for ages - sorting out the attic, losing weight or mastering my nemesis - the iPhone. Last month it was the washing machine.   It broke beyond repair and we had to buy a new one the day after we put our house on the market. Then Ireland went down the toilet financially just after the advertising cheque was cashed by the estate agent who is selling our house. A few weeks ago, our daughter decided to block the plug hole in the shower so she could play swimming with her toys.   The result was a flooded en suite and a big leak into the dining room. Last week, our gas boiler broke and leaked all over the microwave.   All these problems cost a lot of money, which when you consider the really important person coming to visit our children in less than three weeks...