Just Gilly

  My daughter has split from her partner and is feeling a bit broken hearted. As her mother I feel sad too, though it is a rite of passage. When I was younger I tended to be the one who broke hearts apart from Kevin. I was 16 years old and Kevin tore my heart out and chewed it up! Of course my divorce was pretty unpleasant too. Long term relationships are hard. My mum thinks that me and Mark argue well. And we do, minor quarrels, bickering really, we say what we think and then we laugh and it's over. However, we also have some blood curdling fights! When we were newly together I'd hate him so much I felt sure we should divorce. Then after a few years I realised that even when I hated him I loved him more. We wouldn't divorce because mostly we were happy and would spend the rest of our lives together. So after a fight I'll just shake myself off, forgive him for being a twat, and just carry on. Even now, after 26 years of being together we have a hum dinger maybe once a y...

  Those of you who have been reading my waffle for a few years now will know the ups and downs of my weight loss world (mostly ups) but I have come to a momentous decision. I am done with dieting! That is it, never again. Now if that means I stay the same shape and size as I am then so be it. If I have to wear a blindfold when looking in a mirror then so be it. If I ban everyone from taking my photo then so be it. I'm tired and I'm just not doing it anymore. And if you don't like it then that's your problem and I won't apologise. Diets rarely work and certainly don't work for me. They are toxic and I wish I'd never started on my yo-yo journey. 30 years I've been losing weight and then putting it back on, and then some! Whether it's restricting calories or restricting carbs or restricting food in general it's all negative! I don't want to face a plate of biscuits and think I shouldn't eat one. Then thinking I wish I hadn't eaten one. T...

  I was reading an article in my newspaper last week about a man, married with kids, who changed gender. She then contacted an ex girlfriend, to be friends and they ended up marrying. Which made me think... It must be a massive shock for family (though parents might have a clue) especially for a spouse or children. Imagine being with a person for years for them to be transgender. That's a lot to process. Now if that happened to me I'd have to say that Mark would be a terrible woman - let's call her Marsha. Mark is a great househusband - he hoover's, empties the dishwasher, hangs out the washing - but a housewife? Marsha would NOT iron or dust and it would take her hours to decide what to cook for supper! Mark has really manly legs - they are so hairy Marsha would need an epidural before going for a leg wax and her knees would be knobblier than a peanut bar. And whilst I've never actually seen him in high heels I think she'd probably break her ankle. Mark doesn...

  Went to see Duran Duran in Inverness last weekend, all by myself! Mark mumbled something about coming with me if I really wanted to but he'd hate it, would be grumpy and would sit all through it with ear plugs in! With an offer like that I declined and decided to be a brave piglet and go alone. I even walked to the stadium alone wearing my big girl pants. I just followed the stream of 50 something couples lol. It was absolutely fantastic! Which is a little strange because I was never a huge fan when I was a teenager and I'm still not. This begs the question why did I go? Um...I am not sure so I can't answer this. But it was so good. As was Jack Savoretti who was supporting them.  This was my first outdoor concert since I was 16 and went to see Queen. Of course all day in Inverness it absolutely threw it down! I felt certain I'd probably drown watching Simon Le Bon &co. But it actually stayed pretty much dry. When I say dry I'm referring to the rain... The alco...

  For me summer starts in January/February. Which may seem a bit odd considering that it's still actually mid winter. But it's the promise of summer. The shortest day has past, the daffodils are peeking through the earth and whilst they still may get covered in snow we know we are going in the right direction.  In March the clocks change and we finally start to notice the days getting longer. And suddenly everyone will be saying 'it's light when I go to work and it's light when I leave work'. April and May can make for a lovely spring and the weather gets warmer. A few more weeks and summer has arrived. I have two kinds of footwear - boots for winter and flip flops for summer and flip flops win hands down. You flip them on and flop them off! Easy living. And another summer staple for easy living is dresses! You just roll out of bed and pull it over your head! Dress and flip flops, 10 seconds and your done, out the door. Winter is putting on socks, pulling up jea...