Melbourne Cup Day

For the first time in many years (10 probably as the day glided past when we lived in the UK) I spent Melbourne Cup Day with no plans. Before we went OS and even as a poor student, I had a group of us who dressed in silly hats, ate chicken and drank far too much cheap bubbly.

I didn’t think too much about it until mid morning and now I feel a bit sad and empty. Previously there had always been a work function to go to as the rest of Australia took half a days unofficial holiday. Even after officially leaving work to have kids, I’d either had a part time job or group to celebrate the day with.

A few weeks ago I looked about our local cafes and restaurants to see what cup day functions were on. I wasn’t particularly keen to pay up to $70 ( for Lilly and then for me) to be with a bunch of strangers. Of my friends who were not working, they had other plans - so I thought to just do nothing.

Racing a close first with Halloween, Melbourne Cup Day always signaled the wind down to Christmas - of indulgent lunches with friends and the end of exams or projects. It was a day I enjoyed dressing up, having made or bought a fancy hat and giggle with colleagues and friends. I would call one of my sisters, Julie for tips on the race as for a time there she got quite serious about the condition of the grass, past wins and history of trainers etc. Sweeps and fundraisers assisted many of us at work in choosing the right horse for the race. Of course I would bumble my way into a TAB and choose the ‘winner‘ purely on the colour of the jersey coupled with the nags name. Highly technical and based on logic and genius. It was never really about the horses; but we all got over excited on the home straight shrieking the nags name out as they passed the finish line.

But today, I had nothing planned and it feels as empty and stale as a plastic champagne glass. On Adrian's insistence, Lilly and I dressed up and opened a bottle of lemonade ( oh the sheer luxury of all that sugar!) and shared a packet of cheezels. Sadly we missed the start of the race as I struggled with the television control box ( point out the person who doesn’t watch telly) - but got to cheer on the end. I had no idea who or what was running - so we just chose colours.

Miss Lilly looked gorgeous in pink fairy colours. Note my new mac set up behind her - as I am writing NaNo currently.