“You don’t make things easy on yourself do you?”
Honestly I feel like someone says this to me at least once a
week. Not just in relation to the challenge but everything I choose to do….
When we first got Squeak, she ate my sofa and both of my
armchairs, tore up skirting boards and freaked out every time she was left
alone for 5 minutes. I of course immediately adored her, but several friends
asked me why on earth I’d want to take on a dog that was such hard work.
But not my best friends mum, she’s known me since I was
eight and to her it made total sense “Of course you’d take on a rescue dog, and
a clumsy, anxious one at that. You’ve always found easy things boring” – and she
was right.
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| Squeak - showing off her appetite for destruction! |
That sofa Squeak ate – did I buy it from a shop and have it
delivered ready to go like a normal, sensible person with a full time job
would? Of course not. I bought a second hand vintage suite, went on an
upholstery course and spent 6 painful months taking the chairs apart and
putting them back together. We sat in and enjoyed the chairs for maybe 3 months
before we got Squeak……
The thing is Squeak has been worth the sofa, and the changes
to our life, the expense, the vet’s bills, and the constant worry about if we
are giving her a good life. She has an amazing personality and has repaid us tenfold
in love and laughter for every effort we put in. And actually I’ve found that
about almost everything I’ve ever worked hard at (except maybe that sofa – that
I will admit was a momentous waste of time). If I have to push myself to do
something then I value it, I almost always learn something new and I LOVE
learning.
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| Squeak - worth the effort for food cleaning up support alone! |
I hit the 100 days mark on the challenge on Monday. In the
last 100 days some awesome things have happened – 2 weddings, several
engagements, trips to the zoo, family parties, nights away with Matt, at work
there have been award nominations (lots of them!), interviews, events, conferences, round tables – a really busy, challenging and
rewarding 100 days. And through that 100 days, 23 items of clothing worn, a
photo taken every day and 38 posts on the blog.
And I’ve learnt LOADS about myself. But maybe not enough –
because last week I made a decision that will bring me great joy – but is going
to make this whole challenge that little bit harder. In January I’m going to
take a month off work to travel around India.
I am hugely excited about this – I love India and it’s been
a decade since I was last there, I’m going with a friend that I love dearly and
who makes me laugh so much I snort things out of my nose.
And so mainly I’m excited - but there is a teeny tiny part
of me that is (very) worried about clothes. I have 12 items left to add to my year’s allowance (13 if you guys decide to let me swap the broken sandals for the new
pair I got). And as everyone who’s seen Game of Thrones knows – winter is
coming.
In my summer wardrobe I didn’t include a single long skirt
or lightweight pair of trousers- both of which I’ll need in India, I’m also
going to need another long sleeved shirt – ideally these will be lightweight as
it is going to be hot.
But winter here? Christmas? February? (Especially on return
from a hot country) – That’s going to be cold. So I’m still going to need
winter boots, a flannel shirt, a couple of long sleeved t-shirts, a couple of
jumpers, a coat, a warm skirt, a second pair of jeans, a hat, scarf and gloves –
oh and something to wear to Bob and Laura’s wedding. Which the mathematicians
amongst you will notice is 16 new items, out of a maximum of 13 things I can
buy between now and May. And that doesn’t leave even a tiny bit of wiggle room
for things wearing out.
So I’m going to have to think about this really carefully –
how cold is it likely to be here this winter? Do I need a winter coat or will I
be able to get away with layering jumpers under my Mac? What about if the
jumpers are long sleeved? Can I manage without gloves?
I think it’ll be doable (just). But it isn’t going to be
easy – of course not – everyone knows I don’t make things easy on myself!
*A huge thankyou to
everyone reading the blog. At the time of writing this there has been a hugmongous
18,500 page views. I’m loving hearing from you all – keep the comments, tweets
and messages coming! And remember I’m doing this whole shindig for charity so
if you feel moved to donate you can do so here.
Enjoy your weekends.
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