Be More Mabel

It’s always weird, when you realise that one of your heroes has 4 legs and her most favourite thing in the world to do is play fetch! I have two dogs Cyril and Mabel, both named after my Grandparents. If Cyril were a human, he’d be a cross between Stifler from “American Pie” and Sherlock Holmes (The Benedict Cumberbatch one) He’s incredibly intelligent, but also a bit of a k**b, but you can’t help loving him!

  Mabel is a rescue dog and when she first came to live with us, she had a really bad eye infection. She had a patch round her eye and looked like a pirate and her back was bald from a skin infection. The vet wasn’t sure it would ever heal. We had no idea, where she’d come from or what she’d been through. There’s bits we can guess at.

   At the start she was petrified at going outside for a wee at night, unless you came with her (we think she was scared of being locked outside) She hates men with beards (Zac Dingle from “Emmerdale” makes her bark at the tele) and she didn’t like to be cuddled! Fast-forward a year and she’s gone from Shabby Babby to Fabby Babby! Her fur is glossy, she trusts that you won’t lock her outside and she loves a cuddle, she’s developed the Mabel loll….. she just sort of collapses at the side of you like a rag doll. When it comes to Zac, it’s now more of a grumble than a full on bark.

  She is someone so full of love, happiness and joy that she inspires me. The reality is, I’ll never know what Mabel went through before she came into our lives, I can only guess, but whatever it was or however bad her life was she’s moved on! She now knows what makes her happy and she indulges in all of them every day! She doesn't waste time moaning about what went before, it's like she's happily left that in the past and I swear if you were to look up the definition of "Joie de vivre", there'd be a picture of Mabel playing with a ball on the beach!

  In fact, my Mabel, isn’t completely unlike the lady she’s named after, my Gran. I’ve been very lucky, in that I’ve always been surrounded by some incredibly strong and formidable ladies, my Grandmas, my Mum, my Aunties, my cousins, both sides of my family, I’m related to some really amazing women!

   My Gran Mabel, was a lady who never did anything by halves. She never went abroad, until she was 57 and then, she didn’t head off for a few days on the Costa Bravo, on no not my Gran. The first time she stepped on a plane she flew half way round the world to visit family in Australia.

  My Gran was lucky enough to have never needed an operation until she was 78 and then it wasn’t something simple like having her appendix out, nope that was way too easy! She went in with a broken hip and whilst she was there, they realized there were other issues and she ended up staying there for 3 months and coming home with two colostomy bags. The 8-hour operation took place on Christmas Eve and we were told to expect her not to last the night! Not on Grandma Mabel’s watch….. she not only lasted the night, but lived another 10 years! Complete with dodgy hip, colostomy bags and a dicky heart and she would tell you she was as happy as Larry and she genuinely was!

2016 has been an incredibly busy year, getting up at 4.15am, working 12 hour days and things have gone by the wayside. Not just this blog!  I’ve not seen a huge amount of some of my friends, I very rarely go out during the week, gym classes are weekends only and I find myself frantically working out in my head every day how I can possibly get as much sleep as I can. What’s the latest I can be in bed for me to still function like a normal human? The last few weeks, I’ve gone all Len Goodman and pretty much gone to bed at “7”, which makes for a very dull life!

  I realized I needed to start to be a bit more Mabel, it’s time to put behind me some of the stuff that’s made me unhappy this year and focus on doing the things I enjoy, just like the 4-legged one and it’s time to not do things by halves just like the Grandma version.

  I think everyone could be a bit more Mabel at times!

Do You Want to Build a Snowman?

Earlier today, I asked my sister if she had to compare me to a Disney character, which one would I be? She replied without hesitation “you’d be Anna from “Frozen”, because you always want to build a bloody snowman!”

  The question came about, because I’d been reading by friend Ali’s blog “The Ali Sandwiches” and she’d been speaking how her inner Snow White constantly battles with her inner Dobby the House Elf and how she fights between letting one rule the other and it set me thinking…....

95% of the time my inner Anna wins every single time, I’m the first one who wants to pull on her boots, winter coat and gloves and head outside to build a snowman (if it’s snowing obviously) I’m up for trying anything once – see my previous blogs on pole dancing and burlesque (which I still do!)

  But over the last few weeks, my inner Cinderella has silenced my inner Anna… Trinderella if you will. I don’t mean the one who gets to get all dressed up, go to a party and meet a fit prince. I mean the one who thinks she’s only good enough to stay at home and do the chores. It’s not even the Cinderella who manages to convince various woodland creatures that making her a frock is a good idea.

 The last few weeks have been really tough and I’ve really struggled with my emotions for many reasons. I’ve felt like I’ve had to fight to prove my worth in just about every situation, whether it’s been what I’m being paid, to actually getting people to acknowledge my very existence. I think I understand how twins must feel, when they get dismissed as one person, just recently I’ve found myself answering to my sister’s name…even in e-mails!!! And being lumped into the X Factor category of “The Girls”, which is sort of flattering, but I’ll be 40 next year and Simon Cowell is nowhere to be seen!

  I apparently also have magical powers to fix everyone’s problems, my favourite was an acquaintance asking me to locate her an antique Welsh dresser! Why I would know where to find one of those is beyond me!

  I think I let all these things grind me down and Anna was sent to her room, to dream of building snowmen, whilst Trinderella scrubbed floors and tried to make sure everyone else had a lovely life. My diet has been unimportant, there's been a pound lost here, half a pound gained here, it hasn't really mattered.

  Hanging out with my God-daughter Eve at the weekend, helped put things into perspective. Eve is 3 years old, but she likes to whisper loudly in secret to Lucy that she’s the one who looks after me! She’s 3; she knows the difference between Aunty Katie and Aunty Lucy! Eve arrives, budges Cyril up so she can sit on my knee, declares that Cyril is one of her dogs and then decides we should eat pink cake and play on the park. Sounds like a plan to me!

  Seeing Eve and her brother Nate, running around like lunatics and enjoying everything made me happy. Before I knew it, we were planning a trip to go trampolining, cinema and a craft afternoon, where I think I promised Eve, there’d be painting. 

  My inner Anna was back; life is about adventures and trying things and not having to prove anything to anybody. If someone tries to put you down by using then wrong name, then screw them. Maybe it’s not disrespectful to be referred to as “the Girls”. Me and my sister are an unbreakable force, (think Ant and Dec, but without the millions and a love of golf) some people never get that type of friendship in their life. And I can’t solve everyone’s problems and truth be told, I don’t even know what a Welsh dresser is, let alone where to find one and I’m OK with that!

  I always tease Eve that I’m her Fairy Godmother, but truth is, I think she’s mine!