30 Years of Changes with Special K*

*This is kind of a sponsored post as I received some lovely new Special K, as it's part of the Britmums/Special K "How I've Changed Linky" but don't worry, it's not a big ol'advert....

Double Denim: That's definitely been ditched!

Last year, I turned the ripe old age of 30, and I kind of had a shrugged shoulders moment about it. It's meant to be a bit of a landmark because its the start of another decade of your life, but I just felt it was another year and nothing amazingly out of the ordinary happened on the day I turned 30.

I'm now 31, which is the same age Elder was when we met. Back then, I was 18, and 31 seemed positively ancient and cool as. I felt that, by the time I reached 30 myself, I would be wiser, but infinitely cooler too.

At that time, I had written a bucket list. It was something a few of us did using a stack of old exercise books I'd found on moving from my one room shared house to my first flat by the River Medway. I felt, already, that the cool aspect was already occurring. I also used to do a monthly thing where I'd write down little observations of what we'd all been up, what I wanted to do the next month, and what I considered great or not. Like Mature Cheddar being disgusting as not as nice as cheap Value plastic cheese. Or that Value Coca Cola tasted like chicken.

I do recall on the list of must achieve things was to own a TV set and a proper stereo. Back then, I had the furniture that came with the flat, which consisted of kitchen bits, a sofa, a chair, a little table, a coffee table (seen as so grown up by my teen mates and I) a book case and a bed. I had a few dusty books. I had lots of odd material and posters. A TV had alluded me altogether though. The first time a TV Licence person came and hammered on my door, they didn't believe me that I didn't need a licence as I had no radio or TV to warrant one. 

Elder and I in 2002. We do actually decorate now..

I didn't mind though as I had a discman and a set of rather crap plug in speakers. I had a very old yellow tape deck, but the radio didn't tune in anymore (being that it was bought from Boots in 1987), and the tape deck door had fallen off. That did us all. In fact, such was the love of the tape deck, it nearly fell out the third floor window to certain death below, as did my sister who was sitting beside it. She was most unimpressed when we all dived for the tape deck lead to save it, and only just managed to grab her leg to help her.

Have we changed much? He's still cool!

As I look round now, we are no longer in the hated Kent. I know hates a strong word, and I do miss it sometimes (when I've had a few gin and tonics), but I never felt right there. I felt displaced by the town of my birth as it was always full of people I felt who didn't get me and my little gang of strange friends with our weird clothes and our pink hair. 

The proudest achievement of my last 31 years

I now have a very nice TV set (although I do miss the first one Elder gave me, which I could turn over with my toes from the comfort of the sofa as we had no remote and it was touch sensitive), in fact we have three. We have more stereo than is strictly necessary, and the small pile of CDs has grown to a huge collection of vinyl, CDs, digital music as well as good old tapes. The yellow tape deck from 1987 lasted until 2001, then sadly was pinched. I hope somewhere it's still playing tapes and still requires the use of a butter knife to remove them. 

I have my pictures on the wall, but now they are in frames. I can cook, quite well. I no longer survive on a diet of fish fingers, green pot noodles, lemon Hooch and menthol cigarettes. I still keep a diary but it's here, online, and there are 4 variations of writing as well as social media hang outs and the rest. I still love books and they are still dusty. I have furniture I really like now. And I bought it myself. (The bits I didn't rescue from skips and am now sentimental about binning). 

Elder- he of 31 year old coolness- is now 44 and much the same. He is still cooler than me. I am still waiting to be cool. I was told by Mini I was so not cool a week ago while I danced round the living room at breakfast time in my jamas to Little Mix's new song. I find myself using sentences like my Dad used about my music taste on Mini. I feel coolness may allude me. But that's fine.

I like this new 31 year old me, I find she cares less for conformity, does things she likes but does think them through first (after all, the trolley race downhill aged 18 seemed like a great idea, but not so much when I look at my chipped tooth now). I love my life, I love that I have these two mad children who I see myself in, and I hope I can help them get to their 30th year and love looking back over those years.

So, Special K is also nearly as old as me, and I do remember the ads for it back in my school days. I remember my Mum eating it I'm sure, and eat it myself for breakfast, I've even done the drop a jeans size thing before and it worked.

My Special K was pinched by both the Brats though, who loved it, eating massive bowls of it before school, Mini with milk and Littlest like me without.

It is still as crunchy and filling, and I like the new taste as much as I liked the old one. Its definitely less sugary though. I find sugar really easy to pick up on as I don't eat a lot of the stuff. I like it with bits of fruit thrown in when I can rustle up the energy at 6.30 in the morning, but like that's its just as nice to fill up a bowl and eat it on its on in the evening, instead of snaffling biscuits. (As I no longer manage to ingest rubbish food and retain a size 8 figure).

So, what have you done in 30 years, and how have you changed? Are you happy with those changes? Leave a comment below :)