Saving Stuff for Best.

So as you can see from our chart my 2 pound a week plan hasn’t gotten off to the best of starts, I stayed the same (boo) and Lucy managed a loss of a pound and a half. Still I’m not feeling defeated, I can still achieve my target!

  The change in weather means that when taking Cyril for his daily walk, I’ve had to wrap up, there was a slightly dodgy moment when I decided to wear new trainers for such a venture and was hobbling around Newstead Abbey in a very unladylike fashion. It also means I’ve been able to dig out my dog walking hat! I had a conversation with my friend Michelle about this the other day and I think she thought that there was a special range of clothing designed solely for the purpose of dog walkers (there isn’t as far as I know, but maybe I could launch a Slinky fashion range and debut it at London fashion week next year, with our key pieces being hats for dog walkers?)

    It’s really just a hat that I liked and wanted to wear, it’s also practical at keeping my head warm when I’m out in the cold, but because I like to give things a sense of occasion my hat had to have a name and a purpose.

  I realised that it’s a bit of a Trinder thing to make a sense of occasion of things and this stems from my Mum. My Mum would always try and make things fun, so for example when we had to go to the orthodontist in Nottingham she would take us on the bus and let us sit upstairs (this is fun when you’re a child!) We would then get to have a wander round the shops, then have our gobs prodded and poked by Mr May and then she would take us for tea at Jessops, where we could pick anything we wanted (within reason!) It just meant that rather than seeing it as a trip to the Orthodontist, it became an outing with Mum, which was far more fun. When I had to have an operation on my ankle, my Mum made sure that waiting for me whilst I recovered was a pile of trashy magazines and a stack of DVD’s. As a family we always celebrate Thanksgiving, we know we’re not American, but any excuse for a Turkey dinner.

  My Mum also never saved anything for “best, she believed clothing and jewellery were for wearing otherwise it just sat in a cupboard and you never got to make the most of it. She did this because she once read an article about a woman who had treated herself to a Janet Reger nightdress and had promised herself that once she’d lost all her weight and felt more confident she would wear it. Sadly the woman died before she got the chance to wear it, this stuck with my Mum and as a result fancy handbags were used daily and she always wore an expensive watch my Dad bought her. Some of this was down to the fact that she thought if she used something daily my Dad would never realise how much she'd spent on something. She once passed off a Mulberry handbag as something she had bought from Marks and Spencers! My Dad now claims he knew the truth all along, but he didn't!

  It’s the Trinder way to try and turn even the dullest of events into an occasion and I know for a couple of ex-friends it got annoying as they couldn’t understand why we would bother. Well the reason is really simple, you’re a long time dead and if you are spending your Saturday night sat in watching the “X-Factor” then why not make it more exciting by getting everyone to wear matching pyjamas and pretend their a judge? Alright it might not be for everyone, but it beats sitting in glaring at your husband!

  We very much follow the principal that if you’ve got something horrible to do, plan something nice for when you’ve done it. It doesn’t have to be expensive for example today we had to input our expenses and chase invoices, so we decided that once we’d done it, we’d have a cup of tea and a flake. It’s amazing how much enjoyable it was knowing there was a flake the other side of it!

  For the last New Year’s Eve I had a really bad case of laryngitis and so me, Lucy, Laura and Laura’s children had a “Onsie New Year”, where we just hung out at my house watching films and wearing a onsie, it meant that despite being ill I got to spend time with my mates and yet I could legitimately wear my PJ’s without feeling bad.

  If you’re one of these people who always says “when I’m thinner / richer / happier etc. I will do XYZ” Then have a word with yourself, because you’re missing out on so much, wear that jumper you said you’d save for a special occasion, get your friends round and hold your own version of Come Dine With Me and just enjoy life!

  Oh PS, there's now a Slinky By Tuesday Facebook page www.facebook.com/slinkybytuesday and Twitter @slinkybytuesday

Celebrating My Mum

A slightly different Slinky Blog for today, I wanted to take the opportunity to celebrate the life of my Mum and to ask you to do me a favour.

Mum

  Friday will mark the 3^rd anniversary of my Mum’s death and even though it may seem weird to some people Dad, Lucy and I use it as a chance not to mourn her, but to celebrate just how lucky we were to have her. I remember watching “Eastenders” with her many years ago and the Fowlers all traipsed to the cemetery to mourn the passing of Lou Beale (yes it was a long time ago) they seemed to spend the day sat there with a picnic crying. Mum said that she hoped that when her time came we wouldn’t do the same, as she couldn’t imagine anything worse than us sat eating pork pie and picnic eggs in a cemetery and crying.

  My Mum’s death was very sudden, it really was a case of on the Sunday she was fine and by the early hours of Monday morning we were sat in the hospital with a girl I went to school with telling us that she had died. When someone dies it’s the weird things you remember, the nurse was a year older than me at school and she occasionally comes up on my Facebook list of “people I might know”. It’s not her fault, but I always find it odd that someone I went to school with gave me the most devastating of news.

  For those of you who didn’t know my Mum she was a very bright vibrant lady with twinkly eyes and a huge smile, she was amazing in social situations, remembering the tiniest details about people: the football team they supported, the names of their children, where they’d been on holiday etc. She could also strike up a conversation with anyone, anywhere. When her and Dad came to visit me in Belize, we got the water taxi over to San Pedro for a holiday. Almost immediately she got chatting to a Belizean chap about where he was going and what he was doing.

Mum, Lucy & I , New Year 2009

Mum & I on my 30th Birthday

  My Mum was also a very clever lady and great at thinking through situations logically, Lucy and I always joke that where Mum used to give us reasoned advice on how to deal with people and situations, my Dad would always say “just give him a smack” Although in fairness Dad is getting better at not urging his two daughters to punch those who upset us in the mouth!

Mum & "Santa"

  She was no cook and as children we were treated to her specialities of “Monster Cakes”, which were sponge fairy cakes with hideous coloured dye in and “Rabbits / Mice in a Field” these were either pear or peach halves with chocolate buttons for ears laid on a plate of green jelly.

 We know just how lucky we were to have had her and it is this that we celebrate. On the anniversary of her death we try and do one of her favourite things, whether it’s a trip to her favourite restaurant, her favourite hotel or we just do something that she liked doing.

  So, on Friday, if you could make sure you tell those you love just how much they mean to you, maybe buy the lady in your life a bunch of flowers, treat your kids to their favourite cake or just do something nice for your best friend, use it as a day to celebrate those you love and who you might not tell as often as you should.

  This year the Trinder’s will be heading out for lunch, going to the cinema and playing Frank Sinatra as loud as the stereo will go!