Get me.

I don't remember promising myself I'd make more of an effort to be sociable/not a hermit. But apparently lately I am?

Maybe it's an avoidance from writing, or procrastination from choosing my next book, or because the weather's getting good or I feel I need more life experience or I just realised a few days ago I should make more of an effort with the people I care most about ... but I seem to be accepting invites out/inviting myself along on trips lately.

I went to Thorpe Park yesterday, with a couple of girls from work. Last time I went was about 6 years ago, when Thorpe Park was starting to get good (I remember going at 13 and not being very impressed ... we went around the farm bit, on Loggers Leap, and spent half the day on the beach bit they have. There wasn't much else, the only other good bit then was the rapids, and they were closed) but it's gotten so much better lately.

We did all the rollercoasters we could - Stealth was shut, they kept running tests but we never saw anyone go on it, otherwise we would've been on it! Went on the saw ride twice, and colossus, and rush, and detonator, and quantum, loggers leap twice, rapids, tidal wave ... and the carousel (we're awesome!). It was gorgeous weather, but everyone else got burnt and I went a teeny bit brown. Actually, now I'm looking, I'm slightly pink so maybe I burn on a time delay?

We did one stupid thing though - we went in Saw Alive. Which is a 'maze' and you walk around, and actors dressed as dead bodies jump out at you and touch you and someone comes at you with a hook and there're body bags and gates that open out at you and it smells of rotting flesh (and my clothes still do) ... I've never been one for gore, but I'll do anything once ... I've never screamed so much in my life. Or told people doing their jobs to eff off. But ... there's a reason I don't like that sort of thing. And I was at the very back of our group, you get the last grab *shudders* it turns out, in pitch black, I don't like animated corpses touching me. Who'd have thought? Oh, and I jumped so much I've scratched up my arm. I paid in flesh Jigsaw, I paid in flesh ...

Anyway ... I'd totally do a day like that again. Minus the maze. Plus a couple more people from work?

I'm sorry I've not updated this as much as I have previously. Between a sudden social life and proof-reading the crap I've written so far, raising my kid and doing a fulltime job ... I've not had much of a chance to read/think/spend much time on my computer, unless I want to go without sleep I guess ...

Jodie

Continuing my 'why I love my friends' posts (they'll be intermittent, but I'll try and get through everyone) since I'm once again between books ... Jodie.

I've known Jodie for about 7/8 years now, roughly? Again from the internet. We met properly 6 years ago, at Thorpe Park - about 20 of us all went. It was the first thing I'd ever organised and I fell in love with organising trips after that ...

I thought we gelled right away. We'd always been able to talk online, but sometimes the internet is a completely different ballpark to real life. I've met friends online before and not known what to say to them, really (Starr, Stefanie, Jessica ...) but with Jodie, it was different. We kept squaring up to each other, pretend fighting, so everyone thought we hated each other, so we kept doing it to wind other people up. We went on 'X: no way out' and when we came off, there were steam jets over the path ... so we pretended we were blinded by it. We got a few odd looks off people who weren't in our group, but that's just what we're like together.

We've gone through so many things together, even though we don't live near each other (strangely, though we're probably geographically closer, I can get to our friend Cat's house in half the time it would take me to reach Jodie) - A week in Southend, various gigs, trips to London, stalking Dougie from mcfly on a train (accidentally. He happened to be going to Nottingham when we were going to Luton. We actually tried not to get on the train after him, found we were in first class, doubled back to the first cheapo seats, sat down and there he was across the aisle. Best half hour EVER), my trips from my uni to hers (especially when I started going out with her housemate. Which I blatantly only did to see her every other week), train hair, train surfing, TITWANK, mcfans, team pokage, Thunderbirds, Mcfly gigs, Back-To-Front comma's (I talk in my sleep. Jodie tells me what I say in the morning), Margarita's spilt in Chiquito's, Frankie and Benny's, Barbeque Chicken, endless talks on whether Chinese or Italian food should come second to Mexican, dud fireworks, drunken Rock Band, chocolate and New Look and the latest Me2You/My Blue Nose friend paraphenalia.

I can't imagine life without Jodie now. I don't know how I survived High School without her, or Cat, Charli and Kelly for that matter. If I have news, she's the first person I try and tell. Of all my best friends, I'm probably closest to Jodie (and here's where I find out, actually, Jodie's fond of me but wouldn't go that far, lol), not to be offensive to Kelly, Cat or Charli ... I just find I have a little more in common with Jodie. Maybe it's the age thing, since there's 7 months between me and Jodie, rather than almost 3&1/2 years like there is between me and Cat.

I just hope in ten years time, I get to say that all four girls are still my best friends.