It's such a perfect day, I'm so glad I spent it with you

Wow, I'm exhausted. Happy, but exhausted. I never want to eat again.

I had most of the family over for lunch today, Mum, my stepfather, both my brothers, my sister, and my brother's fiancee.

I was lazy with the food, I must admit. I bit off way more than I could chew with my weekend, and decided that realistically, I had a snowballs chance in hell of cooking a good meal, having a clean house and not being a massive ball of stress, bursting into tears at the first sighting of a family member. The house looks gorgeous (just don't look in any of the cupboards, under the bed or in the spare room!!). I was so relaxed and had such a good afternoon, I'm definitely catering like this again.

Yesterday morning I was at my local market at 7.30 and went slightly nuts at all of the deli counters - picking up semi sundried tomatoes, sundried roma tomatoes, a triple cream Brie, Camembert, Edam, (my favourite cheese of all time), King Island Surprise bay Cheddar, 4 different types of olives (split with chili - yum), some turkey, some chicken breast, rare roast beef, dolmades, grilled capsicum, grilled eggplant, some ham, hommus, avocado dip and spring onion dip. This morning I headed to my local gourmet supermarket and picked up some Turkish bread, some mild salami, and an assortment of their salads - sweet potato, Greek, coleslaw, and potato salad. Then to the bakery for a fresh baked hi fibre tiger loaf. I have to tell you, the car smells divine - like fresh bread. I'll be having really fancy lunches all week with deli leftovers.

Today I just put everything out in nice dishes on the table in my back garden, and let everyone help themselves to what they really wanted to eat - as much or as little as they like. Sunny day, warm, but not too hot. I took my shoes off and let my feet luxuriate in the freshly mown grass while we ate. I've just looked at the soles of my feet, and they have a distinctly green tinge.

I feel really satisfied now. My less happy brother was happy and was nice to everyone, no fights picked. My stepfather kept saying how different the meal was to what he normally has, but how much he enjoyed it. For the first time in so long I got to just enjoy my family, no undercurrents, no tension, just people who really love each other, enjoying time together.

I'm going to sleep well tonight.