My firsts....

So yesterday I got tagged by @NotSoSlummy on twitter to do a blog on firsts.  This is the first time this has happened to me and I was really surprised and touched.  Thank you.

These are some of the "firsts" that first came to my mind.

My first memory


I'm a bit confused about my earliest memory.  I have what I think is my earliest memory but then I can remember bits before that but I'm not sure if that's just because people have told me things and I have deceived myself into thinking I remember.  Memory is a very funny thing.  Anyway my earliest memories centre on the arrival of my sister when I was 2 years, 4 months old.  I definitely remember helping my Dad carry her upstairs for her bath.  That's the child memory.  Of course as an adult, and having my own children, I'm pretty sure I wasn't actually part carrying a little baby up the stairs, being only 2 myself.  I suspect my Dad had her and I just had my hands on her, but in my memory I was definitely helping to carry her.  I remember other odd bits about visiting my Mum in hospital but I'm not sure if I actually remember that or if it's just what people have told me.

The first time I went on a plane


This is a really exciting memory for me.  I think I was about 9, so my sister would've been 7.  My Dad started working for an airline so he got cheap flights.  Holidays before had always been driving to France and camping or renting a caravan.  Then suddenly we got to fly places.  Imagine the excitement!    The first time we went on a plane was to go to Brussels for the day.  A day trip on a plane - how flash!  Sis and I were so excited and we loved being on a plane (much better than a boat where my sister was always sick).  I just remember it as a great day out because my Dad was relaxed and we were doing something as a family.  I also remember getting a rainbow coloured cuddly toy elephant as a present for being good.  I also remember having a platter of sandwiches on a tray and a viscount biscuit on the plane on the way back and in my childhood mind that was one of the best teas I've ever had.  The whole day was just ace.

My first kiss


This is a very poignant memory for me.  The guy I first kissed was AS and it was a lovely first kiss.  He was a year older than me and I thought he was just ace.  Sadly I don't think he ever really fancied me but he had a lot of time for me and we were good friends for a lot time after until we lost touch.  I saw him again at my sister's wedding 6 years ago and that's the last time I saw him.  Tragically he passed away during a hospital procedure a few years ago.  His heart gave out.  I've always thought this was probably because he'd used it too much because he was one of those larger than life people who always wore his heart on his sleeve.  RIP you lovely, lovely man.

The first time I saw my OH, the first time we kissed, and our first ate


This is a memory I've been thinking a lot about lately as we have just passed the 10 year anniversary of our first date.  I went for a job interview at the place where I got my first job after finishing my LPC as a paralegal.  OH worked there too.  As I was in the interview I caught sight of this guy out the window putting boxes into his 5 series BMW (I've got to be honest I've always been a sucker for a nice car).  I can't say it was love at first sight, or even that I fancied him.  He wore these massive glasses with tinted lenses (when I first showed his pic to my very good Geordie mate she said "what's he wearing them for") and I remember noticing they were odd.  But at the time I remember having a sense that he was going to be important.  This could of course be my memory playing tricks again but it's nice to think of it that way.

At our office Christmas party (with me having only been in the job for 2.5 months) I got blind drunk.   We started drinking at 12 (the office didn't close till 4) and then carried on when it shut and we were getting ready for the Christmas do.  Then carried on at the Christmas do.  We fed each other chocolate cake at the dinner table (yes in front of all our work colleagues.  I still cringe at the memory) and held hands and kissed.  He tried to get me to go back to his house.  I'd like to say that I realised how stupid this would be in front of my work colleagues.  But the reality is I knew that a parcel was arriving at my flat the next day that was my mum's christmas present and I had to be there for it to be delivered or my Mum had no Christmas present (you know how you get fixated on things when you're drunk).  So we went home separately and exchanged numbers.  I spent the entirety of Christmas kicking myself and thinking I was going to have to leave the only job I'd ever managed to get in the legal world.  Not a good time......

We came back to work after Christmas and we spoke (I think we'd exchanged texts but that was it) in the office but nothing.  I knew I liked him but I was so worried about losing the only legal job I'd been able to get.  But eventually a month after the Christmas party he text me and asked me out.  To which I immediately said yes.  Our first date was on 31st January 2002 at the Coronation Hall in Surbiton, yes a Wetherspoons pub.  Classy.  I got blind drunk.  Again.  In fact I was pretty much drunk for our first few dates until a good friend pointed out I'd never work out if I liked him or not if I didn't remain sober for a date.  So our first sober date was watching Monsters Inc at the cinema.  A film now loved by our son.

The first time I found out I was pregnant


We'd been trying to get pregnant for over a year and the whole thing had left me fairly despondent - especially as some good friends of ours had seemed to get pregnant the month they'd moved in together.  I was awaiting further hospital tests when just before my 29th birthday I discovered I was pregnant.  I was utterly over the moon but OH was out.  I didn't want to tell him over the phone and I wanted to be sure.  So I had to go out and buy another test (had to drive further afield as our supermarket had shut).  Did the other test and I was definitely pregnant.  I think this was about 9 p.m.  So tried to call OH to get him to come home early from his meeting.  But his phone was off.  So I waited....and waited....and waited.  Until by about 11 p.m. I was thinking if I don't hear from him soon I'm going to have to tell somebody else first.  Eventually he got home at midnight and I told him (he was the first to know) and we just lay in bed holding hands.  We were so happy and so excited.  Then of course we had to endure the tedious wait for the first scan........


So those are some of my firsts that immediately came to mind.  Of course there's the first time I held one of my babies in my arms but that would make it a very long blog.  So now I believe I have to pass the baton on.  So.........

@HaggisMummy
@markusj75

over to you..........