Aunties and anniversaries
This weekend marked the 5th year since Mama Titch passed on. It was a strange weekend. I usually take the day off but as I was doing a eurovision pool, yes I am that dedicated, I went into work for a half day. Considering I had dragged a lot of the workmates out for the eurovision semi-final to watch Ireland not qualify, the numbers of interested and not hungover parties were few and far between. Nonetheless I sold all the countries due to my amazing 2 for 1 offer. One country for 2 euros and 2 for 3. A bargin. Well I thought so anyways. From work to town and lunch with the kid followed by a cocktail afternoon. The kid thought she was very cosmopolitan sitting sipping margheritas and watching the world go by in Koh. Its the only way to pass a horrible day. We also did some retail therapy, well when I say we I mean she and I paid for it. She is trying to get into oil painting so she needed new brushes. A trip to the art and hobby shop in jervis resulted in some fancy brushes and some baby model meerkats. I was tres excited. The sister and her lovely man flew in on the Friday evening and we caught up on the all goss including that I’m now allowed tell you I’m going to be an aunty seeing as the jellybean is gone 11 weeks. 
A trip to Athlone, a meal with the brother and his gf and then to the church. We dropped down to a place the kid used to hang out when she was younger before her life changed so dramatically as she put it. This place looks so desolate and the weather was pants so we didn’t stay long. I told her we’d go down another time and stay for a while maybe even bring a picnic. The mass was fun. As much fun as one can get from the priest muttering on about eternal damnation etc. The jellybean wasn’t happy with the sister’s dinner so we had to step out for a bit. Which suited me. I hadn’t planned on anything anything to anyone about my plans to not go to the mass anymore until next year to save a fuss with the brother but as the sister was a bit upset at having to jump in and out of the church so to speak I told her that it wouldn’t bother Mam that we were outside and that she was never into the whole mass bs.
Told her my plans to mark with occasion with close friends and have dinner or something to remember her properly rather this whole archaic institutionalised cult known as the catholic mass. Mam wouldn’t care how we marked it and its not like every other day of the year we forget what we’ve lost. We know exactly what we’ve lost. Every single day is a reminder. Everytime I see a daughter and her mother I am reminded. The big deal with be the brother who’s a bit of a traditionalist and the fact that its the same day as his birthday but I assume we can come to some sort of compromise. Its the last time I get myself so stressed about who to avoid, who’s going to avoid me, how high will they build the statue of the sister K. Its annoying, its upseting and I don’t have to put myself through that. It sounds selfish and it probably is but its about self preservation.
Despite the stress levels of the day, we all, sans aunties, ended up having a good night out watching the eurovision and catching up with the mate B, who’s almost like a brother. He made it up for the
mass. His gf had dropped him up. We have yet to meet this woman so I demanded to know all the details. B is not a big man for sharing. So we got a name and where she’s from and where they are living now and that was about it. As a result of 2 solid days of being on the lash the kid was in a fairly bad way on the Sunday when we had to check out of the B&B. She’s a settled woman now, none of this binge drinking of her youth. Thank god.
Tonight its dinner with the sister K and the boyf as they fly back tomorrow. But it won’t be ages until we see them again as we head to Holland on Friday for a nice long week off I plan on catching up on reading and sleep and chillaxing. And thwarting the poor sister who can’t have a drink cause of the jellybean. Although she’s having the last laugh at the moment as the last few days we crawled out from under our hangovers, she was up and bright as a button, eating us out of house and home 
This time she has a genuine excuse as she’s eating for 2. 
