THE GOOD OLD DAYS

CHAPTER 111 :

                     

Hi everybody,

When I decided to start a blog and share a part of my everyday life with you, I think I didn't really know what it meant. It was just a kind of challenge. After all, zillions of bloggers all over the world were flooding the web with exciting, trendy or wacky topics, so why not me ?

As far as I could remember, I had always enjoyed writing : school essays, holiday postcards, teen journal, keep-in-touch letters, and so on.

Actually, I had never spent a single day without jotting down a few lines, so it was high time to take the plunge and see if my adventures resonated with anyone in the cyberspace. And they did !

How could my mawkish and awkward early posts get visitors ?

Two years after I still wonder...

Perhaps the Chinese horoscope was right, and 2015, the year of the Sheep , was my Lucky year ?

Yes, but a western astrologist said that virgos (that's my sign), whatever they did, were doomed to be the black sheep all throughout that year !

Better forget about all those sheep and gullibilities.

No, what I think is that I would not be sitting in front of my computer today, ready to share some cheerful moments with you, if you had not stood by me so faithfully, chapter after chapter.

Thanking you for your encouraging support is something I won't keep harping on !

I'm not joking ! Without you, I guess that, instead of invading your screen with my adventures once a week, I would still be scribbling them in a notebook.

Come on, don't get me wrong !

Even if my fingertips are somehow ' attached ' to my laptop keyboard, my heart still belongs to the ' pen generation '.

I mean, the hard clicking of the keys doesn't trigger the same peaceful and intimate feeling as the gentle sliding of my pen on a sheet of paper.

Actually, I think I suffer from a kind of ' fetishism ', cause whenever I step into a stationery, I can't help buying a new notebook. Then, I'm thrilled to bits and eager to get back home to introduce my favourite pen to the new comer.

Facing the blank page and then jotting down the very first lines of the chapter I mapped out while walking Ulysse ( see chapter : Walking for health and for the rest ...) is just like a hopeful promise of more fun and laughter  to share with you.

Well,  I guess for most of you, typing is second nature, and the word

' handwriting ' mustn't ring a bell, except perhaps birthday cards from your grand-parents or comments by teachers on your homework.

So, sorry for telling you about the 'arty-crafty- ' side of my blog, but that's the way I tinker with it behind the scenes. Why keep that close to the vest ?

Come on, be honest , don't you think all that sounds a shade old-fashioned, and that before rubbing shoulders with highly sought-after bloggers, I should first shelve my notebooks and pens ?

Right you are, then ! Unfortunately, even though my rose-coloured glasses let me expect each coming day to be a positive and worthwhile experience, I sometimes look back on times gone with a kind of nostalgic longing for the good old days, or, let's say, the ' so-called ' good old days.

Just a glance in the rear view mirror and then back in the here and now . Nothing to be ashamed of ! Even go-getters do that!

Quite natural and healthy, but,on gloomy days (yes, I have some), I happen to confuse ' glance ' and ' gaze ', and that's when things get out of control.

Either the rear view mirror gets blurred and I can only see a photoshopped picture of the girl (me) in the far distance, or the " you can't turn back the hands of time " warning light starts clinking on the dashboard, I mean, in my mind.

Before blubbing, I usually brake hard, park on the emergency lane, turn on the hazard warning lights, and rush to the bathroom.

What a bummer ! No more magic mirror there !

I just feel like Snow White 's evil step-mother who knew mirrors never lie . Mine isn't an exception to the rule : no mist, no moisture, no black spots, just sparkling clean and reflecting the glaring truth : my exact age !

Hey, nosy you, you can whistle for it, I won't tell you !

What to do then ?

Bury my head in a pillow and wallow in self-pity ? No way ! Sure, I would get the pillow creases on my face ! No need to add more to the impending disaster !

Throw away my glasses and buy a white cane and a guide-dog ? My two four-pawed buddies would turn green with envy !

Break the mirror ? Seven years of bad luck ! I'm too busy with myself to waste time breaking the spell of misfortune !

So what ?

Well, behave as the  naughty and gullible girl I've always been, raid the nearby beauty shop and clutter the bathroom shelves and cabinet with all sorts of anti-aging contraptions : exfoliating masks, moisturizers, skin repair cream, and all that jazz !

When it comes to trying to get back to the good old days, any beautician can turn me into a chump in a snap of a finger !

And then, guess what ?

Weeks after, the bottom line is : money squandered and my mirror is as rough around the edges as ever !

You see what I mean, no need to draw a picture( anyway, the lead of my pencil would get blunt before I could reproduce all the fine and deep lines on my face ).

No use seeking comfort from Dearhubby.

Whenever I complain about the sneaky signs of aging, he just smiles and dodges any comments by saying that he can't see any, cause love is blind !

Even worse, a while ago he managed to make fun of my craze for miracle beauty products ...

Some weeks ago, while chewing a bite of apple, I suddenly felt a kind of discomfort in myl lower gum. Not a real pain, but prevention is better than cure, and an apple a day doesn't keep the dentist away .

My dentist is a nice and efficient guy, but his surgery is not my number one hangout.

Yet, as it was Friday, and eveybody knows that ragging toothache often occurs at weekends, I made an appointment in emergency.

One hour later, when I came back home and told Dearhubby that the dentist had pulled out a chip of milk tooth abandonned ages ago by its

' sibblings ' deep inside my jaw, he exclaimed :

" Hey Perky, you must absolutely post a review about the last anti-, aging cream you bought, to say it is so efficient that after only two weeks' use , your milk teeth are coming back ! ".

I just rolled my eyes and shrugged my shouders, but before I could say Jack Robinson , he added :

" I'll make some tea. Would you like it in a mug or in a feeding bottle ?

 ...Come on Perky,I'm joking .Make a nice little smile. Let bygones be bygones."

He was right: let bygones be bygones, and let's head off for new adventures !

Enjoy your reading and don't forget : BE PERKY !

A special thanks this week to Dearhubby whose witty remarks have triggered this post and will definitely trigger others !