Spring has sprung

And suddenly it's Spring, proper. I love this day of the year. The one when you wake up and it's suddenly lighter, warmer, the birds are singing slightly louder and the air smells of Summer. It makes my tummy do somersaults and my chest swell with joy.

It's today, that day. The day that reminds me that I'm not always a grump, I can actually be quite pleasant, smile, laugh, hell, even be a little bit funny on occasion. Every year during the dark, cold months of Winter I forget this, without fail. It's ridiculous. I've just looked back to last year, this time, and found the exact same rant.

Time for another letter, this time to myself, to be sent around Mid-Autumn next year. Remind me, won't you, please?

Dear Shiny,

You are about to go into the Winter months. I know you are less-than-happy about this but, I'm afraid, there is nothing you can do to stop it other than marrying rich and moving to the Northern Hemisphere for six months and you know how your previous efforts in that arena turned out.

I am writing to warn you that you'll be losing your shine and, perhaps, should change your name from Shiny to Grumpy. Just for the next few months, mind. Remember that after the hibernation period during which you frown a lot and stop making an effort (this year, please, can you at least keep on dying your hair, you're getting older you know!) the sun will come out again, and bring with it your personality. There'll be that day, you know the one you love?

In the meantime, listen carefully... Make a fire as often as possible in the hearth and practice your red wine drinking. It'll be okay, really.

Love always,
Shiny xxx

Hooray for Spring!

Grunts and heavy metal

He is still not talking to me. I still don’t know why. I am still receiving grunts to any question thrown in his direction. Sigh. Thus my prolific writing at the moment. You see? Some good comes from every situation… it’s forcing me to stretch my writing muscles.

At least he’s playing some lovely classical music. I have to admit, though, that his behaviour pulls out the teenager in me. In full force. It makes me want to blast some particularly loud heavy metal from my computer.

Do you think he’d appreciate a couple of tracks from Rage Against the Machine?

Bearing the brunt of the grunt

I’ve mentioned him before, the man I work with, who is prone to a bit of grumpiness. He also likes food, a common interest of ours, and one which keeps us amused and in conversation a lot. We often discuss what we had/will have for dinner, and the like. We have worked together for many, many moons and, in general, get on quite well. As I’ve said, though, he tends toward grumpy, and keeps grudges. It’s familial. His mother lived next door to her sister in the old age home for something like twenty years and never spoke to her, due to some long-standing grudge. Unbelievable really.

Anyway, the reason this all comes up is because I seem to have done something to make him cross. Or I think I have. Due to his grudging-abilities, it is hard to know for sure. He has stopped speaking to me, though, which is what is giving it away. Any attempt at conversation has resulted in a grunt. There’s a stony silence from his corner, unless he is on the phone. To somebody else.

I’m thinking I might have to instigate a conversation. I forecast that it’ll go something like this:

Shiny: Grumpy colleague?

GC: Grunt.

Shiny: What’s your wife making for dinner?

GC: Grunt.

Shiny: That sounds delicious. And for pudding?

GC: Grunt.

Shiny: Yummy. That’s one of my favourites. You didn't know that, did you?

GC: Grunt.

Shiny: Now you do.

You can sense the enthuasism, can’t you?

Grumpiness and gratefulness

You know how people talk about Glass-Half-Full people and Glass-Half-Empty people? I work with a The-Glass-Has-Been-Empty-For-Years-And-Is-Growing-Mould person. Like in, seriously, this guy is grumpy. He could find the bad side of a triple chocolate cake. It's like having a large black cloud walk into the office when he arrives each morning.

Don't get me wrong, he and I are very good friends and my intrinsically sunny disposition (thank god for it, if I may say so myself), normally manages to push the cloud away from my side, and back to his. I've given up (after 12 years) trying to make his go away. I tried and tried. And tried some more. But, alas, the task was too huge. We do get along though mainly. Like a house on fire really. I love that saying... like a house on fire.

The result is that, most of the time, I hum a happy tune in my head and make it louder than his grumpiness. Sometimes, though, it's hard to hum loud enough. I think I may be a bit PMS-ey too, and am going through one of those unsatisfied-with-my-job phases, so that may be adding to it. I do just, every now and again, want to hit him (possibly quite hard) and tell him to look around and realise how much he's got to be grateful for.

Good grief, listen to me (and my sunny disposition I was just bragging about) whinging like, well, a grumpy old man. I'll stop now, shall I?

I have a wonderful dinner to look forward to, with two old varsity friends, one of them being K, mother of my beautiful godchild, who is going back to Sydney on Thursday (sob!) And then home, to where my love will be. See, I have SO much to be grateful for, and that's just scratching the surface.

I am a lucky girl, aren't I?