A day at the races

My friend, Koks, had her birthday over the weekend. When I asked her what she'd been up to, she said that her boyfriend and his father had taken her out on their yacht on Sunday and sailed her over to the Isle of Wight just for lunch (they all live down South, in and around London). He'd also bought her tasteful presents, and is taking her down to Cornwall to stay in a nice hotel for a weekend.

Seriously?? I want her life. And possibly her boyfriend too - he is such a sweetie.

My weekend on the other hand was full of horse-racing, drinking and driving round a lot. Oh, and some jumping up and down screaming gleefully when my horses did the honourable thing and came home in the right order.

The occasion - a different friend's birthday (the lovely Phil), and her choice of venue - Ascot. I'd never been to Ascot before, in fact I've only been racing once before and that was at rural Worcester, so let me tell you - Ascot is mighty impressive by comparison. It almost seems bigger than the whole town, a gleaming expanse of glass and metal, and then the undulating green track beyond.

Since this wasn't Royal Ascot (which incidentally, I am soooooo going to next year), there wasn't a particular dress code to be observed, but lots of folk had still dressed themselves up their posh frocks for the day. I'm always amused on occasions like this to people watch - you've got the people who clearly grew up round these places, who wear conservative but effortless clothing and talk the talk. My friend Tony's new girlfriend Charlotte clearly falls into this category. They had posher tickets than us as Charlotte had been given them and asked to collect the prize on behalf of friends if their horse won - clearly she moves in more exalted circles than me! Nice girl though.

Then there are the people who like to think they move in those circles. Usually easily spotted because they've tried just that bit too hard with their dress. A lot of our party probably fell into that category - 4in stiletto sandals and a fluffy little summer dress are not practical when it's raining and you're on your feet all day - no matter how perty they look!

There are the hooray Henries, most of whom have turned up in jokey fancy dress, because for some reason the sons of rich farming and country families love a chance to dress up in drag or other silly fancy dress, bray loudly and drink far too much.

And finally, as always there are those girls who wear really ill-advised clothes, and cause the rest of us to shudder quietly. As a larger girl myself (although steadily shrinking), I'm always careful to check an outfit from all perspectives: to the girl in the minuscule green playsuit, and the other one in the crotch length dress - girls - I really, really did not need to know that much about to anatomically - and also, cellulite is best kept to yourself. Please.

And my bitching is over. lol.

It turns out my luck was in on Sat, and although I lost my bets in the first and third races, all my others (5 out of 7) produced at least one winning bet per race. I don't know what the odds on that are, but I'd say it was a pretty long shot! No big bets for me, as my previous whinging suggests I just don't have that kind of money to throw around, but a healthy little profit of £30 by the end of the day conveniently payed for dinner.

I will just say this about dinner - when you're not drinking so much (my alcohol intake is way down since I started this healthy living malarkey in Jan), it turns out that every other drunken yahoo is just way to irritating to contemplate. In other words, not drinking turns me into a grumpy bastard. Aside, from that minor point, it was a great evening, and Phil had a fabulous time, so the only person I really felt sorry for was the bus driver tasked with getting 16 very drunk and rowdy people home. Poor sod. :O)

Didn't sleep the best on Sat night, as 16 people in one 3 bed house is a lot of people and Sid and Hannah kept kicking me during the night (well, they kept trying to hug my feet, as for some off reason I was sleeping the opposite way round on the living room floor to everyone else), so I was quite glad to catch some kip on the long drive home on Sunday.

Now I'm back to work, and being deafened by the workmen who are currently dismantling about half our office around us - why the couldn't wait for the weekend I don't know!!