Released On 12 May 2025
Dolly's blog: The Reboot
Few things focus the mind like a 30-year university reunion. I think of the reunion scene in Grosse Pointe Blank when John Cusack’s character says “I’m a professional killer… I killed the president of Paraguay with a fork. How’ve you been?” How have I been?
I became a lawyer and had three kids. Mr D’s job forced us to live in Outer Mongolia (or Wiltshire as it’s better known) and now he’s working in Riyadh to pay for the school fees. I’m a bit over-stretched and sometimes my knees ache. I worry that I’m surviving but not thriving. I’m boring myself even as I type that.
It’s time for a reboot, so I’ve been taking the steps…
Step one: Borderline obsessive purchasing of expensive hand soap. Don’t know why, but it helps. Better than a drug addiction I feel.
Step two: Fly to Australia to spend quality time with best friend and get some perspective. Buy a massive hat. Embrace my inner Wim Hof and discover ice baths, submerging myself for excessive durations whilst singing Pink Pony Club. All highly recommended.
Step three: Take up running. I’ve never managed to crack this one but this time its sticking. Turns out I just needed to bribe myself with a load of boujee Australian kit, end my run with an over-priced latte, and contemplate the Grosse Pointe Blank line when he says, “It was as if everyone had swelled”.
Step four: Get a piercing. Don’t worry – just my ear. Mid-life crisis indicator? Possibly. But I’m also old enough not to care.
Step five: Contemplate tweakments. Conclude I’m both too cowardly and too skint (see purchasing frenzy referenced above). Decide instead to purchase a gua sha and embark on a DIY facial massage programme. “It relieves eyebrow tension!” I say to my non-plussed boys as I read the instructions.
Step six: Consider whether the job I’m doing is the one I want to do until (gulp) retirement. Have I fulfilled my potential? Is this as good as it gets? No idea. Park that thought and revert to massaging my face.
And now my eyebrows are feeling relaxed and the university reunion is a week away. Over one hundred 50’ish-year-olds in varying stages of midlife crisis, fuelled by alcohol, and transported back to the scene of their misspent youth. What could possibly go wrong? I’ll report back…
After 19 years of fee earning, Dolly now works in a management role in a London law firm. Working four days a week she is supported by a wonderful (though often absent) husband as they attempt to bring up three teenage children. A lockdown puppy adds to the chaos but keeps her sane.
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