Since my parents live in France and my sisters are all grown up and working/ married/have their own families/ living further away etc it's a fairly rare occasion we all get together, I think the last time we did was my parents 40th wedding anniversary almost a year ago and before that my sister's wedding the year before probably.

We tried to do it this weekend but no such luck as all 3 of us sisters were working at some point so when we did meet for lunch this Sunday one was missing- but seeing as I had dinner with her on both Thursday and Friday I can't really complain!

Instead the rest of us met to catch-up and eat great food as well as celebrate Christmas, Easter, Father's Day and multiple birthdays all at one sitting.

Yesterday my parent's car was playing up so they ended up stuck at my house all day - lucky them! I regaled them with my recent beadwork and then let them sit and relax whilst I beaded before we headed out to our planned trip to see Les Miserables. For them it was a long-awaited trip and for me it was an exercise in seeing if when exposed to something I could stop hating it.

When I was a teenager my parents purchased a tape of the music of Les Miserables and seemingly played it every time we went anywhere in the car. I hated it. They and my sisters loved it, but ever since the meerest thought of it gets my hands clenched and I pray for a quick escape.

So when they said they were going to see it my automatic reaction was...to ask if I could join them.

After all everyone else seems to love it so maybe it was just me. Maybe being fully immersed in the experience was just what I needed to fall in love with the songs and the show and cure myself of my complete aversion to it.

In the end the show was good and I didn't hate it but I'm not convinced it's for me. But at least now I know.