Stepping Outside ...

I stepped outside today. My comfort zone, that is.

I'm so lame ... for so many years I have been dependent on my car as my only means of transport, to the extent that the thought of using public transport fills me with dread. But not so today! Today I was a big brave girlie and I got on the train. On my own. Yahooey!

I had a day's annual leave today to meet Jacqui in town so that I could help her shop. I very very rarely go into Birmingham City Centre - for a start I have a huge problem with crowds of people, and secondly it's not really practical to shop till you drop with kids in tow. Today, however, I have had a lovely time. I have definitely shopped till I dropped. My legs and feet are suffering, but it was definitely worth it.

So, off I trotted this morning to our local train station, just a 5-10 minute walk away from here. My heart was pounding as I approached the ticket office (how lame is that!) to get my ticket, and my palms were sweaty as I got on the train. But I did it. And it felt good. Will I be doing the journey into town by rail again? Definitely. In fact, I might even go one further ... I discovered that our local train line runs to a station about 10-15 minutes walk from work, so I might even be adventurous and go to work on the train one day.

So, a brief overview of my day: got train, met Jacqui, shopped, shopped, shopped, had lunch, shopped some more, had drink, shopped, got train back. I feel like I have walked miles.

Other news: we received word earlier this week that my cousin had died of cancer. I feel guilty because I don't feel anything. He lost touch with us all many years ago, and anyway, his kids are my age (his Mother was Dad's sister - Dad was the youngest of the family by quite a few years, so my cousin more or less grew up alongside Dad, as Dad was probably only ten or so years older than him). The funeral service was today, but Mum and Dad didn't go - Dad hasn't been well recently and it would have been a four hour drive to get there, and he's really not up to that at the moment. It makes you wonder why there is such a thing about people turning up at funerals to 'pay their respects'. Surely we all be 'paying our respects' to our family and friends throughout life, not just when someone dies? I can't see the point of turning up to see someone buried/cremated when you never had time for them (or they never had time for you) when they were alive. Nevertheless, Rest In Peace, Patsy.