So I've had a particularly rubbish week. I've been coming down with a cold, so after struggling through Monday at work I sacked off the pub quiz that evening and called in sick on Tuesday. Turns out, being off work is brilliant but only when you're not actually ill... Obviously I appreciated the chance to watch some terrible TV (ANTM anyone? Nope, just me then...) but generally it's just killing time until someone comes along to entertain you.
Wednesday saw me back in work, but being repeatedly told how ill I looked and how I should go home... A big confidence booster, I can tell you. But I had to be in to prepare for my mammoth Thursday - anyone fancy 4 hours of back-to-back meetings, being filmed and no lunch? So when Friday rolled around (with a sneaky pub lunch served by what could be the IDENTICAL TWIN of Theon Greyjoy from Game of Thrones) I was ready to crawl into my Spiderman onesie and stick my snotty nose in a good book.
My Filofax , though, had other plans (yes, I said Filofax. Deal with it). Dinner at my (gorgeously hyperactive) friend's flat in Sawbo to spend the night with some of my oldest and best friends.
And I could not be more grateful I dragged myself there.
I know everyone thinks they have the best mates, but they really really don't. Because I do. It doesn't matter how often I see C., HSnr. and HJnr., they always have something interesting to talk about, some new perspective on my problems, and some horrific but hilarious anecdote.
Us in Prague, August 2011
After about a million menthol rollies, a few bottles of wine, rum and gin, and 4 hours of Trivial Pursuit, we had covered most of the basics: life, love, mental health, dreams, sex, music, and drugs. I had also had a couple of epiphanies about myself, the main one being that I can answer a goodly amount of Trivial Pursuit questions but only when it's someone else's go.
What I admire most about my friends is their unflinching honesty. Things are rarely perfect or even pretty but that just doesn't matter. We take whatever people have/who they are and we embrace, relate to, and accept it all. Who could ask for more?
The best end to a shitty week. (Not including the drunk guy who sat next to me on the train home. Nor me having to pick up his can of cider when he tipped it over. Nor the looks of others when I then smelt of cider. Sigh.)
*Quote from The Hold Steady.
