We are family

It ain't grim up north...

Evening!
Well you can all give yourselves a pat on the back - you got through Monday!  Hurrah!  I admit I had a relatively easy one, in that I was off work and at my parents after spending the weekend lunching and window-shopping with my mum and walking (for 12 miles!) with my dad - not unusual activities when with Mama and Papa Berry.  Today, however, I spent my last day back home visiting their solicitor to get my will sorted out and mooching over to the local NHS walk-in centre with ANOTHER dose of tonsillitis.  Which means that tomorrow I will be making an appointment to see my GP so I can bully him into whipping them out...

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... even after a 12 mile hike!

Anyway, I digress.  This week has been very family-orientated for me.  On Wednesday I put up my sister at Shelly Berry Headquarters.  The plan was to have a glass of wine and try to assemble a flat-pack desk sans the instructions.  The reality was two bottles of red, a big bag of crisps and a good old gossip.  It was a rare treat - usually when I see her it is for a quick pizza when she is in town for a meeting, or with the rest of the clan in tow.  So it was with regret (and a sore head) that I said goodbye to her the next morning - only to run into her that evening in the pub!  I was with my colleagues, as was she before heading back up north on the train.  It was with great pride that I introduced her to my work mates - even when one of them, after hearing about her esteemed career, asked what had gone wrong with me...
Even if my parents wonder the same question, they would never say it out loud - in fact, they spoil me rotten.  I've given up trying to pay for meals or trips out when I'm home they are so insistent in treating their little girl - I do well to get the opportunity to buy my dad a pint in the pub or a coffee for my mum when we take a break from our wanders around town.  Not only that, but my dad has agreed to help me with another round of decorating and they're taking me to see the Lion King when they come down in November - and, trust me, the tickets weren't exactly cheap.  And, what with pressies from her "business trips" abroad and bottles of Pinot Noir, my big sis seems to be following in their footsteps.
Anyway, I guess my point is, you can pick your friends but you can't choose your family - but I reckon I got a good deal.  So, mum, dad and Jo - here's looking at you :-)

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