Shelly’s Big day out
After the rage of the weekend, I have moved into a calmer state of mind. Mammy2 had a chat with the mother-in-law and apparently it had never even crossed her mind about the kid. She was very apologetic which somewhat pacified me. As for the sister-in-law, who knows. I’ll leave her be, else I’ll end up ripping into her. Tonight I head out to Blanchardstown Shopping Centre to catch up with my college mate R. Even though she only lives in Meath, it might as well be another country for all the times we catch up. I last met her and hubby in April I think it was so we are overdue a catch up. I was supposed to meet her on Friday but between jury duty and a chest infection we had to reschedule. Heading out to Blanch by myself on public transport always reminds me of when I first came to Dublin. To say I was green is putting it mildly. I had to meet at Easons, it was the compass for any movements in Dublin. I had never seen so many people. Remember before we escaped from the wilds of Westmeath with the mother, we lived in Ballygobackwards. 1 church, 3 pubs and 2 shops one of which doubled as post office so they could keep an eye on everything that was going on in your life. Throw a rock in this place and you wouldn’t hit a person, but it would have been handy if you had, they were an awful shower.
Moving to Carlow and going to college there opened my eyes a bit as to the way of the world. I moved into digs and stayed in them for 4 years. Hey, I was a culchiee! There I shared a room with R and we became pals. She invited me to her house on weekend. To say I was scared would be putting it mildy. Us culchiess have odd views of the Dubs. I remember my mother’s reaction to hearing I was going to be sharing with someone from Dublin, she warned me to keep all my stuff under lock and key. Ironic when you consider the daughter of the digs actually started stealing from us! One of the 2nd or third times in the capital accompanied by a Dub, I felt safe. Sort of. We had to get a bus out to where she lived. I froze when the man in front of me was getting on the bus with an axe. I kid you not. I glanced at R who thought it was hilarious. She assured me he was after buying it and would most likely use it to chop wood. It didn’t stop me sitting as far away as possible from the man with the axe. He could have wanted to make small pieces of any country person he came across. Over the years I have gradually gotten used to the city to the stage where I used to make Mam dizzy by taking short cuts here there and everywhere. I can see how country people hate it but I have grown to love it. The hustle and bustle. The funny thing is back in the day, R always talked of living in the city and hating the country and I was the other way around. Now she lives in Trim, bakes apple tarts and loves the country. I’m in a city centre apartment. Don’t you just know we are a Patricia Scanlon novel waiting to be written 
I have had a strange relationship with R over the years. Initially, and sad as it sounds, when we were in college and we became mates, I did everything for her, without even being asked. I was so chuffed to have someone who wanted to hang around with me, coming from the billy no mates status I coveted in school I was so out of my depth in college. Soon I made mates on my course, as R was studying science. We were never ‘close’ in college even though for the 2 last years in college we were inseperable, we even headed away to work for the summer together. Then when I moved to Dublin, we drifted. I was going through a crappy time with coming out and she wasn’t dealing with the whole gay thing too well. We had a major falling out. She told me she never wanted to see or hear from me again. But you can’t just cut someone out of your life like that. I met Mammy2 and was always
taking about R. Eventually I got the courage to ring her and ask if she wanted to meet up. R is extremely stubborn so I didn’t know if she’d hang up as soon as I rang. Thankfully she
met me, but was very cautious. Things have grand ever since. I guess we’re both adults now. That sounded very mature! How unlike me 
