I'M HOW OLD ??!!!

40! That's right, 40! Innocent, unblemished, youthful me - 40! Can you believe it?! I actually wasn't too traumatised by the event really since I am still very much young at heart and living life accordingly, but my brain still took a while to process the information! I am now happily processed - like a slab of cured ham it seems at times! - and remembering most of the time that I have left my 30s behind. Although I have been told that 40 is the new 30 - and 50 is the new 35- so I plan to extend my 30s for at least another 15 years!

I managed to celebrate this milestone event in 2 countries:

CANADA - I wasn't actually in Canada for the birthday itself but in the firm belief that birthdays should be celebrated for at least a week minimum either side of the actual date itself, I threw myself into celebrations with Sandra and Ken with gusto. They took me out to "Earls", one of my favourite restaurant chains in Canada, and I downed salmon (of course) and yam mash, washed down by a glass of Pinot Gris wine, and 2 Peach Bellinis (peach schnapps, peach nectar, rum, chanpagne and sangria- see above), and no I was not driving! I had quite a happy birthday buzz going though, the best part being that the Bellinis were really sweet, which suited the aging sweet tooth in me! Sandra & Ken gave me this really funky art print I had admired in Kitsilano (see following story) which will be a lovely reminder of reaching middle age!

AUSTRALIA - I flew back in on the 25th itself, which meant the first 6 hours of the biggest day of the year, apart from Christmas, were spent in a pressurised metal tube hurtling at breakneck speed over the Pacific! Yippee! I didn't even get wished a Happy Birthday by the Customs officer - yes I am writing a letter of complaint to John Howard - but I did get a really friendly taxi driver, which was a welcome change to normal. I was initially feeling quite peppy and awake after unexpectedly sleeping for 4-5 hours on the flight - I never usually sleep at all - but after unpacking, showering and shopping at the mall with my friend Susie, and having lunch with her (Indian food for those desperate to know), I felt awful, thanks to the exotic souvenir cold I brought back with me (undeclared to customs I might add) and so I slept all afternoon. Woo-hoo!! I did get out for a fish and chips dinner at John and Susie's, figuring I was not about to surrender all my birthday to that dreaded lurgy. After all, its not every day you turn 40! Or 30! Or whatever....

I was feeling better the next night, after much zinc and cough mixture (no alcohol in it though - what is the world coming to?!) when I fronted at "Sealevel" restaurant right on the beach at Cronulla for an intimate dinner with 7 close friends - John & Susie (who organised it all for me), Andrew Geddes (former flatmate), Ellen, Tracy and Ross, a good friend who travelled down from Newcastle to attend - and one really huge helium-filled balloon of Tigger. The food was brilliant - I had Szechuan pork fillet with mango and pear in a Sauvignon Blanc sauce - the conversation sparkled and I had a ball. Dessert was at Ellen's place in Miranda where we ate much Toblerone cheesecake that Susie had made, and other assorted high caloric desserts.....

....and so I turned 40 and the world did not stop moving...well not that I noticed but I was high on sugar from the desserts at the time so who really knows??