Thursday 21 June 2007

The thirty best things about my twenties.

1. My 21st birthday party which I marked by using some money from my father to buy a new dress, a case of fizzy wine and dinner at the much-missed Pierre Victoire in Durham for 21 of my friends.

2. The new Star Wars films.

3. Harry Potter books -- first discovered following a tip-off from my great aunt who believes in fairies.

4. and 5. cannot be repeated in public.

6. A bad date made me so angry that I slept in the garden and woke up with my hair full of slugs.
7. My 23rd birthday, spent in Langzhou, China. Our Chinese guide, whose birthday was the day before, organised a tyre-sized cake covered in creamy roses (most of which ended up smeared on people's faces. After we had finished fighting, we took the rest of the cake into the back room of the cafe, where 20 Buddhist monks were watching a kung fu movie.

8. Surviving white water rafting. Twice.

9. Getting a job at the English Garden -- I was temping at the Courier at the time, and I'd been waiting all day for the phone call. When it came through, I danced round the office, and everyone cheered.

10. Resigning from the Courier to go travelling and being asked if I would like to come back after I returned.

11. Handing in my resignation letter to the English Garden because of the relief.

12. The Blue Radio incident -- I was moving and I wished I hadn't packed my radio. Just at that moment, the postman knocked with a parcel containing a radio.

13. My mother coming safely through an operation to remove a pituitary tumour.

14. Telling a colleague that I was struggling with that our working relationship really mattered to me.

15. Finding a red rose on my doorstep on Valentine's Day, and the anonymous Valentine's card.

16. Weeing in a litter bin on Durham market place.

17. Cutting my face open in Africa because of the way everyone looked after me.

18. The Gulkin Glacier, Pakistan, because of it's vastness and the noise when you drop rocks off ice cliffs.

19. Chatting to a tiny little girl in Nepal who showed me her pictures of film stars and her plastic bag. I showed her my water bottle and my umbrella.

20. Buying my first and second flats.

21. Becoming a Godmother.

22. The Ganglion incident.

23. The Millennium -- and the digging up of the Blue Peter Time Capsule.

24. Seeing my relationship with my siblings growing and improving.

25. Starting to get on with my cousins.

26. Meeting Nick.

27. Cat and Fenella and Marie's weddings.

28. Starting Three beautiful Things.

29. Winning a prize for a story I wrote.

30. Having life coaching.

More to come.