I suppose I should mention the week since my birthday

OK so the countdown to my 40th birthday has disappeared. I guess that means I must be forty... but no!!!!

From party

We had the most spiffingly delightful party on the 8th of November, 12 to dinner, cocktails, 5 courses, music by Noel Coward, a mixture of toffs and gangsters ( not sure how they got in) and a good time had by all! Anton was remarkable. He cooked and served almost every course- I can just about manage pea soup and the cheese board! He mixed cocktails. He looked like the lord of the manor. He auditioned for a part as a juggling dad and still managed to pull everything off!


Next morning, however, he collapsed ( and not just at the sight of the washing up, oh no, I had already done that!). Heart palpitations, difficulty breathing, dizziness, uncontrollable shuddering, enough to force me to get an ambulance. So my 40th was spent in A&E at Waitakere, lunch was a big mac ( hang the diet) at the McD's up the road from A&E, and tea was toast and peanut butter at Elaine's where the kids and I spent the night! Ho hum!

The hospital thought heart attack, then they thought hangover ( he had been rushing around so much that he had hardly had anything to drink) so they discharged him. We started to think it through and came up with LYME DISEASE again. SO the GP has listened and gone "Well I don't know! Here are some antibiotics and a doctor's note for a week off", the anthroposophic doctor has said 'Tell me about your childhood, oh and Mrs Ashcroft here is a syringe so you can inject this out of date remedy into your husband. Come back in four days if he's not dead!'

In the meantime, Anton has spent a lot of time on the sofa, watching Top Gear and trying to write his book. Teddy the cat seems to have become empathic and won't leave him alone.

On top of all of this Caitlin has got purple glittery plates in her mouth to straighten her teeth so she is very hot and bothered about that.

If this is what 40 is like, I think I shall stay 39! We have all agreed that Sunday November 9th never happened! So I am not 40. In NZ years I am TWO. I think I like that better than 40!