Things I haven’t mastered at 37….

Posted 16th Jul 2022 by radiosarahc10 Comments on Things I haven’t mastered at 37…. Thoughts, musings and randomness

I turned 37 at the beginning of July.

I was working away from home, which was a bit weird, but my team made sure I didn’t end sitting alone in my hotel room with a microwave meal for one.

It was also the day where the British government started imploding.

The health secretary and Chancellor had resigned the night before and Wednesday morning saw the resignations continue.

For a journalist it was the most entertaining birthday in history, plus it meant watching PMQs came with a side helping of a Colin the Caterpillar cake.

I had a pretty decent but busy start to 37; the craziest news week in about a month or something, various celebrations, spending time with lots of family and friends, and then getting ill; hence why this post is a little late.

Last year I wrote about the things I’d tell my younger self; this year this post is more about the things I just cannot master…

How to brush my teeth without getting toothpaste EVERYWHERE…

Not helped by the fact that I walk around brushing my teeth, packing my work bag, filling water bags running back upstairs because I’ve forgotten something….the list is endless. The result is that I leave the house with flecks of toothpaste all over me.

How to stop getting distracted…

Simple jobs take far longer than they should because at some point I’ll either start doing something else, start looking through things that are completely irrelevant or just sit down for a bit instead of cracking on.

How to chill out without feeling guilty about all the other stuff I should have done…

Despite the fact I am believer of and often say to Scott “You can’t be productive all the time, it’s unhealthy”, I still struggle with the guilt if I’ve had a lazy day.

How to DNF a book…

I can’t do it.

I don’t have the same problem with films or tv shows. I’m ruthless with them….if I don’t like them they get switched off…books, I just have to know whether or not they’ll get better. Most of the time, they do not.

How to stop smoking…

My worst habit.

I know I should stop; I know I should have stopped years ago.

The time has to be now.

How to be on time..

I’m crap at punctuality (I know, it’s awful), I just genuinely underestimate how long things can take, I underestimate how long it takes me to get ready, how long the drive will take, how many cups of tea I need before leaving the house, how long it takes to fill the car….you get the picture.

The only thing I’m ever ridiculously early for is the airport.

How to cook….

I mean, I can cook, in the loosest sense of the word.

If I have to, I can knock myself up something to eat; it won’t be the tastiest thing there is, but it will be edible…most of the time.

I’d like to be able to make something from scratch, that tasted amazing, actually that’s a lie, I don’t have the patience for the kitchen.

How to curl my own hair…

You know, so it looks nice. 

I’ve tried curling tongues, I’ve tried to do it with straighteners, I’ve tried rollers; I just can’t do it, I’ve to get my hairdresser to do it. Every. Single. Time.

How to shave without taking a chunk of skin out of my legs…

I have a big scar down my shin, that becomes more visible when I have a tan. I remember a friend saying, “I bet there’s a cool story behind that”.

Me: “I was shaving my legs”.

I have matching scar on my ankle.

Basically, I do a rush job, and nine times out of ten, end up cutting myself.

How to look after shoes…

It doesn’t matter if they’re heels, flats or trainers – I ruin then in no time.

The shoes I own that look as good as new are the ones I barely wear, or they’ve never been out of the box.

My biggest mistake this year was buying some white pumps (they go with everything) for my holiday and thinking I’d be able to keep them white….

How to not lose my shit at things that are beyond my control…

Cancelled trains.

Stranded in an airport.

Horrific traffic.

I’ll feel the rage bubbling up, I’ll get frustrated like it’ll achieve anything.

How to send cards on time…

Dreadful. I even have reminders in my diary of when to send them and still fail to do it on time?

How to leave a party early…

The day after turning 37, I was out dancing until 3am in a grotty London bar where my shoes kept sticking to the floor.

I was the right amount of ‘merry’, but still should have been in bed hours earlier, especially as I had to get back to Leeds to work the following day…

I’m not 20, I need sleep to function.

Incidentally, I caught Covid and was quite ill a few days later.

I’m sure it was from said groggy bar; I guess that’s a lesson in itself…raise your standards, avoid the dives (and covid) and get a good night’s sleep.

Maybe I’ll master these during my next trip around the sun; maybe this is the year I become as fully organised in my personal life as I am in my professional life? Maybe I’ll cut out some of those bad habits for good and I’ll finally learn to accept when to give up on a book.

Who knows what 37 holds….I’m looking forward to finding out though 🙂

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Thoughts, musings and randomness

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birthdays, family, friends, life skills

radiosarahc View All

Journalist, writer, traveller, music lover, collector of hats, news addict, bookworm