2009 – The Year That Was

December 29, 2009 Dotty 5 comments

The Best of 2009

I have been tagged in a blog relay of writing the 5 best things of 2009. At first I thought – how could I possibly choose? Then when I had a pen and notebook I chewed my lip and thought “what on Earth did I do/happened to me in 2009”. Now I have a keyboard and all is well…

1^st Best Bit

I funded my purchase of the Little Pink Netbook from the very last dregs of my ‘Running Away Fund’. I have always had a small sum of money stashed away for emergencies. Until about 15 years ago it was £50. Then it became £100. 6 years ago it grew to £200. The fund was there as a safety net – the knowledge that I could always fill a car with enough fuel to go where I wished, hole up in a cheap hotel and just have time to think. Apart from the independence and freedom of expression this tiny machine has given me, I have finally realised I am exactly where I want, and need, to be.

2^nd Best Bit

www.dottymummy.co.uk has been a life-saver for me. I have an outlet of my own. A channel in which to make some kind of sense of the words and thoughts that occupy and sometimes invade my mind. A medium to share my happiness, my day-to-day ordinariness and occasional despair. It has grown from being a few words to being an entity in its own right – which grows in its own way and space. Often I feel I am writing what it wants, rather than what I want – but that is fine: I’m happy.

3^rd Best Bit

www.twitter.com is my coffee morning; luncheon party; afternoon tea; picnic; cocktail party; dinner party; pyjama party – all rolled into one. It is a digital yet organic presence which has changed how I view myself and my community.

4^th Best Bit

Running. I adore running: I started barely able to run for 30 seconds without collapsing in a wheezing puce-faced heap. I ended collapsed in a heap, half-way through an ‘easy’ 5K run the day after a 4 mile run and 4 days of eating nothing: this happened at the beginning of my latest (last?) episode of bipolar illness. I miss my running dreadfully – it gave me air, space and a sense of accomplishment like no other. It gave me music and the right to love Mud’s ‘Tiger Feet’. It gave me common ground to meet up with my Twitter friend Tom. Meeting Tom gave me confidence to run more, meet more and live more. I’m going to run again as soon as I go home.

5^th Best Bit

Maddy. Madeleine was born yesterday at 10.00pm. She is the daughter of my beloved cousin and best friend. She is pink and beautiful and adored like no other pink child before her. She also gives me total licence to ‘make’. I have baby blankets, mini-handbags, sun-hats and more in mind… Welcome to my world, Maddy. I love you xx

And from being lost for words I have missed out all of this: