So, it's five to midnight.
With any luck, right about now, my best friend has arrived, we're both still conscious and we haven't done anything silly. We've been known to give each other hair cuts under the influence of alcohol before now.
I note lots of my favourite bloggers are doing round-ups of their year and linking to their favourite posts. Frankly, I'm too idle. So here are my very favourite 10 posts written by other people from 2009. Please do read and enjoy:
- Melissa from More to Life than Laundry went on the Clipper Race this year and I’ve loved following her training, fund-raising, travel and race posts – but this one stuck in my mind because it perfectly explains what’s so brilliant about sailing – it’s like leaving the world and the person you are in regular life behind while you have an adventure. Really inspiring stuff.
- Sian from MummyTips wrote this amazing blog post about her experience of post-natal depression. I don’t think there’s been a more honest or moving post written on any parent blog this year.
- From October, not one of Noble Savage’s more serious posts, but it made me laugh because Flea loves the end of Big Yellow Taxi and the moment where Joni laughs is her favourite of all. Flea loves emo, but she knows an awful lot of Van Morrison, Rolling Stones, Joni Mitchell and Bob Dylan.
- If there was an official award for funniest blog writer ever, Emily at Maternal Tales would be a shoo-in. Seriously – you need to read both of these posts about pom poms, but then just read the archives. The massage post is another favourite.
- Four Down Mum To Go is author a lovely blog, and I really enjoyed this honest description of what we parents do on what we laughingly call ‘a day off’.
- Sandy’s post on Baby Baby so accurately captures that panic when you realise you can’t see your child. Read it and then give your little one an extra squeeze. I did.
- Auntie Gwen is newly divorced (like me), incredibly smart (like me, ahem) and fantastically entertaining (not so much like me). Every single item on this list of “10 Things I’ll Never Do Again” struck a chord with me. Oh sister, I’ve been there and bought the t-shirt. Except rather than executives, I seem to attract men with too many degrees and a love of motherboards.
- Alpha Mummy posted this letter she’d received from a reader. I thought I’d share it because it’s so beautifully written and because the theme of broken friendships is one that really struck a chord with me this year – and I realised that I’m drawn to unstable people. They’re the most interesting people, for sure, but they’re also the ones who end up hurting us most. But ultimately, life’s about taking risks and like the writer of this post, I’d rather be hurt than not take risks.
- It takes a real man to admit he was a Richard Marx fan. Dan, I salute you. Mostly because now I know someone else who was almost as sad as me.
- Josie, oh Josie, do you know what you’ve done? You only went and unleashed the bloody Slanket on the Twittersphere, didn’t you?
