Pink fluffy slippers, adult toys and why Helen Mirren is my heroine....

There are so many reasons I love being forty-five that I could practically burst wide open and have them spilling out all over my desk......but that would be way too messy.

The main one that stands head and shoulder above all the others has to be that I really don't care that much about what other people think anymore.

I should stress the "that much" in the previous sentence, because there is occasion when someone very close passes comment and I give it the usual knee-jerk reaction before disappearing into a corner of my mind to contemplate "is that what he thinks of me? Is that a good or a bad thing?" and other such neurotic ramblings...

In this instance it was "you're self-opinionated, too much to say for yourself", closely followed by "I'm not saying that is a bad thing..."

I think the word "gobby" also made it somewhere into the sentence, but I'm hoping that his version of "gobby" doesn't put him in mind of Jade Goody quite in the same way it does me......

Anyway, this is how I see it: being self-opinionated is necessary in this society if you want to make any headway whatsoever. As long as your opinions don't offend, insult or otherwise hurt others, that's OK.

And one other thing darling (in case you're reading), there's only one thing worse than being too opinionated and that's having no opinion at all.... ;-)

Take my opinion on my prized fluffy pink slippers, for example; I grant you that they are not the most seductive footwear I possess but they do one thing and they do it very well.

When I calculate that my chances of coming face-to-face with my SO (a.k.a. significant other) are rare to slim and I want to snuggle down on the sofa with a glass of wine and Greys Anatomy (or something of that ilk), then out they come. They are not attractive in the classic footwear sense (and yet far, far better than Birkenstocks in my opinion) but I have two words to utter here and two words only- toasty toes.

They are a naughty indulgence, I suppose. "Naughty" as in I would never want to be seen in public wearing them, yet I clearly take no issue with admitting my fetish for warm feet on here.

Which leads me on to the term "adult toys", a term that I intend to clear of all wrong-doing and reinstate it's innocence and acceptability in general day-to-day conversation.

Now, we all know what image we conjure up with the term "adult toy", don't we? But why is that?

The inference is that, as adults, if we have a "toy" it must be of the bedroom variety. What about Ipods? What about those sexy new Macbook Airs? What about DIY hair removal laser kits? Are they not "toys"? Do we not get excited as we take delivery and sit for hours figuring out all the features? And do we not scream at the top of our voices to "get off that" if anyone so much as prods our new prized possession in the manner of the most obstinate child you ever heard?

So, do you see? The term "adult toys" is to be embraced, encouraged and nurtured. It should be used freely and without embarrassment. It is part of our grown-up way of life and we should acknowledge it as such.

I, for one, am hoping for a sackful of adult toys on Christmas morning and I don't mind admitting it.

Which leads me onto Helen Mirren, who I am sure has no issue with embarrassment over the term "adult toys" or any other for that matter.

I read in the Sunday Times mag this week with much alacrity that Ms Mirren met a journalist for an interview at a top hotel and opened the conversation with the announcement that she had just eaten eight croissants, a fact that she "seemed quite proud of".

You've got to love her, haven't you? Beautiful, sexy, intelligent, naughty and a love of fat-laden French pastries that she readily admits to.

I mean, come on girls, we all aspire to the likes of the thinnest "celeb du jour", but who would you rather have a night out with? I want to have dinner with someone who grabs for the dessert menu with mucho gusto at the the thought of yet more calories of no nutritional value.

My SO thinks Helen Mirren is very hot, as I am sure most men with a pulse do, so they may have read with some confusion in the interview to which I refer that she prefers women to men in all but the sexual sense.

I love her more with each day that passes. But not in the sexual sense.