30

So.....there we are....and here I am...

30. Wow. That's old. I remember thinking about this age as a youngster and being convinced that at this ripe old age I'd have it all figured out, probably married with a few kids of my own. Turns out that's not really happening. What I do have is a lot of good memories and plenty more good friends. And the knowledge that the concept of age is a shifting thing. At 16, 30 felt ancient, light years away....but now? I know plenty of 40 year olds who still haven't matured (read: grown old). I can't pretend that I'm not slightly devastated at being THIS OLD, but I'll deal with it - there are plenty of other things in life to worry about.

I've done some pretty cool/ amusing things thinking about it, including living and studying in France, living and working in the US for a summer, jumping off a mountain (with a parachute), being stretchered off a mountain (yeah - not one of my highlights!!), moving from London to Dublin, moving back again to London, buying a house, paying bills, pretty much being independent from the age of 18, living in Canada, seeing Alcatraz and the Bay Bridge, travelling in Thailand, making new "best" friends in the ladies, hanging out with male models, being a godmother, kitting the parents out with a new front room, getting a job, getting a better job, travelling to South Africa for a weekend (and staying in a fanTAStic hotel), being the 'May Queen', going undergroung in a gold mine, playing on a massive mining truck in Fort McMurray (google it), graduating Uni (certificate in 8/11/2000 - cool!!) and having the ceremony in Irish and Latin so I understood NOTHING, recording an album, meeting Rolf Harris (paj - that one's for you!!), winning a PJ and Duncan competition on my 18th birthday (Fran - remember that?!?!), having my parents call the police thinking I was a "missing person", owning stuff already that appears in magazines' "hot lists" (I recognise that this might not impress anyone but me!) and knowing you lot through it all.

I think the best thing that I've done is make some fantastic friends. Friends who won't let me wallow as much as I'd like, granted, but bloody good people all the same.