Bedlam!

We had a full house today with a couple of school moms around with their assortment of children. Most of the kids were little ‘uns but there was a ten year old we hadn’t met before thrown in for good measure.

I thought it would be ideal, because my eldest is only just eleven, and they’re both boys. What I had forgotten is how you dread your parents introducing you to someone and then them walking away to leave you to play. In fact it was only when the other mother asked her daughter if the big boys were talking yet, that I stopped to remember how much I despised going to a strangers house.

Luckily for the youth of today there exists the wonderful common language of playstation, and so even when you really don’t want to know the person sitting next to you, you’re more than happy to garrotte them with a sword. The boys got on great, and spent the afternoon in silence broken only by the groans of defeat and the whoops of victory. (I feel the need to add it was raining hard all afternoon, or they would have been kicked outside.)

What I particularly liked about this get-together was, both the moms I invited were smokers! Yes, it’s my dirty little secret and one which I go to great lengths to keep hidden from most people I meet. As I imagine most of you are non-smokers – for plenty of good reasons – I’m thinking you may not realise how smokers feel, and you probably don’t much care, but if I say I feel like I’m committing a major crime whenever I light up, will you stay?

And there aren’t so many of us left anymore. I suppose that’s a good thing for the next generation, but smoking for me has been interesting way of meeting people. In the old days there were smoking carriages on trains, and I had the most fun travelling across America meeting fellow smokers condemned to sit apart. I really don’t think I would have got chatting with half the wonderful characters I did, without the camaraderie of doing something so frowned upon.

But back to today and my excitement of openly sharing my dirty little secret with people other than the BH.

We don’t smoke throughout the house, it’s only allowed in the computer room and is another reason why I feel the most comfortable in my little den. One of the moms even commented how well planned our den location is, tucked at the back of the house, away from any halls or rooms upstairs, and how you can hear the children travelling through the house towards you, giving you enough time to meet them halfway and stop them inhaling any of our poison.

But we weren’t quick enough with her daintily toed daughter (very unlike my elephants!) who sprung out of nowhere and stood in the doorway eyeing the unusual vision of her mother in a group smoke session.

She frowned and we hastily started removing evidence of our wrong doing, “Is this a garage?” she asked.

Guess where her mom has to go for a quick cigarette ;o)

--x--

I haven’t written a thing today. Except this. Not good, but tomorrow isn’t too busy so maybe I’ll get to catch up (?!), I won’t tonight because between Rome and Lost the TV programmers have lured me into being a couch potato for one night a week. I bet I’ve totally destroyed any nice impression you may have mistakenly had of me!