8 Aug 2011
Birthday crusts and caviar
2011 has become quite unique. Keith and I have actually managed to SEE each other for BOTH our birthdays. I honestly cannot remember the last time this happened. Unfortunately both days were also spent away from the kids, but hey ho- you can’t have everything.
The 2 days in question could not have been more different (aside from the heat, long hours and copious fluids).
Mine: Worked 14 hours together in air conditioned 4-star hotel in Barcelona with tea and coffee on demand (via a magic phone on my desk) finishing off evening with gala dinner meal that was so posh I had to google the menu later back in hotel room as I had not recognised anything I’d eaten. Excellent wine in a strangely self re-filling glass that did not run out. I was careful. (I have been tricked by such self re-filling glasses before).
Keith’s: Worked 14 hours together in hot and sweaty field in Norfolk where we were delivering a youth festival. Tea, coffee and squash on tap in the staff tent (Thank you Bev and Mike), finishing off with birthday cake and lukewarm diet coke in office tent at midnight, having spent most of the evening sweeping the shower and toilet trailers, stocking up the bog roll and hand towels, unblocking 3 toilets and emptying all the bins.
Both days were fun and are connected with 2 very different organisations, who are great to work with. But I am so aware of BEING aware of these different experiences because it makes me a bit shallower than I’d like to be. I want to not even notice the difference between crusts and caviar.