I moved to another country to get away from my family. Did wonders for the way I feel and how I relate to them. I realised that most of what they were doing was only a problem because I didn't tell them to go f**k themselves. Did that when I got back, and my God were they shocked.

As for birthdays, I have come to understand that birthdays are crap. Ignore it. I am guessing you are younger than me, and the older you get the easier it gets to dismiss it as rubbish, because, to be honest, nobody really gives a f**k about your birthday. Make your day nice for you; pamper yourself by going somewhere you like to go, have a meal you enjoy, read your favourite book. Do something for yourself. Never rely on others to do things for you, and if you do, stipulate, in detail, what you expect because they probably don't have the faintest idea. Asking you has never entered their minds.