My Month in Numbers 2013: May

Hello, hello.

How's May been for you?

Traditionally it's a pretty decent month round here what with: 2 bank holidays, a birthday, an anniversary and breaking up from my Uni job for the summer all to look forward to ... and fortunately this month's kept with those traditions. It's been pretty decent here. No complaints really.

So how about we get straight to the numbers behind the days?

21 years = how many years together James and I celebrated:

I'd like you to believe that I was betrothed to him at birth and that I'm a mere 21 years old. It's not true ... but we can pretend can't we?

10oz = the weight of the steak I ate during our anniversary lunch:

We had planned to visit a little bistro we like but, when we arrived, there was a sign saying it was closed due to a function being held there. So we wracked our brains as to where to go and drove around, stomach's rumbling, yet trying to find somewhere equally as nice to eat seeing as it was for a special occasion.

 

[I was wearing a new dress for goodness sake - you can't let that go to waste in a McDonald's Drive-Thru can you?]

 

Eventually we ended up at a pub which we hadn't been to for many, many years and which has changed its appearance, name and, fortunately, its menu since we were last there ...

 

While eating our rather nice meal, in quite sophisticated surroundings I remembered the cheese and onion sandwiches we used to have when we used to visit there in the 1990s when we first got together!

 

Maybe we were never meant to visit the bistro of our plans. Maybe this detour, which inspired us to reminisce was what was meant to happen all along. Who knows ...

Page 41 = the page the story about my Push-Up Bra fundraising  appeared on in my local paper:

 As someone who's pretty coy at times it took me a while to work up to actually opening up the paper and seeing myself in print. [I'm talking days here! Although I did see an online version on the day].

But my parents are obviously less shy about seeing one of their offspring in print and phoned to tell me they'd bought a copy and seen the story, and that it was almost a full page etc etc .... then I could hear my Dad in the background telling Mam to tell me about what was on page 40, opposite me.

Because it was this ...

There was an awful lot of Kirk going on across that double-page spread!

5 = the number of books read [you can hop to my reading list Pinterest board if you want to visit the books in question]:

 I read Set Up, Joke, Set Up, Joke by Rob Long almost in one sitting. It's a memoir of a writer of US comedy series and, as you might expect, it was funny!! Perfect for you if you like Curb Your Enthusiasm or Episodes or just laughing!

As for One Big Damn Puzzler ... it's a real treat [complete with fab Rob Ryan cover design]. Set on an island ... with lots of allusions to Shakespeare plays ... and featuring a native elder who's translating Hamlet into pidgin English. [Slight word of warning ... it's rather scatological in parts so ... just don't read it while / before eating.]

6 = the number of books borrowed from a different library than usual. [I know ... it's a wild and varied life I lead isn't it?]. And the truth is ... I was a little bit giddy.

You know when you're aware of how much you're smiling, and you try to stop yourself [in case you look insane] ... yet no matter how hard you try you can't keep the corners of your mouth from curling up?  Well, that was me.

Later that day I heard James talking on the phone to his Dad [who must have asked where we'd been that day] saying: "We went to Stockton library ... because Julie's read all the books in Middlesbrough".

Perhaps I've been slightly exaggerating when I've been complaining about not being able to find anything to read in my regular library? Due to documenting my 2013 reading list, both in My Month in Numbers and on the Pinterest board, I know precisely how many books I've read ... and in all honesty I can't really claim it's 'all the books in Middlesbrough' ... not just yet!

1, 3 + 116 = the issue numbers of the 3 different magazines I created for this month.

1000 words = the word count I was given to write about My Month in Numbers for a new magazine. Needless to say, as I was describing my precious blog-baby, I went over the 1000. By about 200 words. I think going over a certain number of words while you're writing about numbers can be filed away under 'ironic'.

50.5* = the number of hours spent watching crime drama this month:

* this number could increase if I watch something tonight of course and it doesn't take into account the fact we watched some Sherlock more than once when there was nothing else on TV. Oh and ... I didn't count that 20mins of Luther I watched while flicking between channels last night either!

I don't normally do this - set myself a specific thing to measure, a specific number to total-up, a specific action to keep track of all month - but I thought that it might be fun for a change!

I love crime / legal / murder-mystery dramas and I always have. I have fond memories of bonding with my Grandma throughout my childhood over a good episode of Columbo or L.A Law!  And it continues to this day for me. But even though I knew I loved this kind of TV ... I still didn't expect my viewing of it to add up to over 2 whole days from the month!

Makes me wonder if I've transgressed some European Union time-directive ...

[Pssst: as this tally-charting was quite fun this month I'm thinking of broadening it out and opening it up so you could join me from time to time ... where we could all count the same thing so we can compare .. but more on this next month. OK?]

And finally ... here's a fool proof way you can feel 20+ years younger next month ... seriously ... take my word for it ... it happened to me ...  

I made a deliberate trip to the shops to buy two things.

Two things that had the power to make the years fall away.

Two things which, unlike expensive face serums or plastic surgery, didn't cost the earth or require stitches.

So what, exactly, are those two magical things that can you purchase in your local supermarket on the same day [like I did] that can whizz you straight back so you feel like your teenage self [like I did]? 

Well, they're ...

1.  a newly released CD you've been eagerly anticipating even down to calendar watching for the release date [in my case it was Vampire Weekend] plus ... and this is the clincher ...
2. ...  a tube of spot cream!

And suddenly ... you're 15 again!

Try it for yourself ...

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OK - they were mine - what were yours? You're welcome, as always to throw your numbers in the direction of me and the ever-expanding band of international Month in Numbers bloggers out there ...

Here's how to join us:
If you've never joined in before there's a lot more information on the Month in Numbers page - including a 'How To' guide for you to take inspiration from. [You don't need to follow any guidelines other than those I'm about to set out below ... everything else I'll leave up to your own creative  interpretation!]

If you want to share a link to your Month in Numbers post / photo / layout etc for me to then visit, comment on, and then pin to the communal Month in Numbers Pinterest board then ...

• Leave a link to it in a comment on this blog post ... but ... 
• When you swing by my blog to drop off a link to your Month in Numbers post - please leave a comment for me while you're there. Not because I'm needy ... but because it's nice to not be link-bombed where all I can see is the dust your link left as it hits the ground ...
• Please remember to link to my blog in your post. As much as I'd like to think that everyone who reads your blog already knows what 'My Month in Numbers' is [hey, it's nice to be popular, right?] ... the truth is, they don't. So unless you explain to your readers where the idea comes from and how your readers can join in too, then they'll never know.
• And finally ... please try to take time at some point in the coming month to visit and comment on a few of the other posts too. It's always a real thrill reading through everyone's experiences and spotting patterns, coincidences and similarities between us all. As Maya Angelou once said: we are more alike than unalike!
• Any further numbery questions - just ask - my email's in the sidebar.

Right then ... let the counting commence ... see you in June!

Julie :-)

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p.s: don't forget there's now official Month in Numbers merchandise with 'Month in Musings' - the first of a new range - of 'memory-keeping by numbers' printable journaling cards. [Available to purchase as a download from my Etsy shop AND via SJ Dowsett's Little Musings store.