With firm(ish) resolve

Like many people's, our Christmas celebrations spread beyond the day itself. My brother and his family visited us for a couple of days this week.
This is them at Saltburn, yesterday. My elder niece declined to be included in the family photo - "I'd have my picture taken with McFly..." she offered.

My SIL is wearing, although you can't really see it here, possibly my greatest knitting triumph - the knitted gift she loves. I made a natural coloured baby alpaca chunky weight lace scarf and hoped she might like it as she can't stand anything scratchy near her skin. This is anything but scratchy.

Boy was it cold, but there were still brave souls trying to surf. There's a new surfshop opened, called Charlie Don't Surf. We walked along the pier and watched them on, the admittedly small, waves. "They're not making much of an effort," I said. "You know," said my brother, "that's one of the things that is fundamentally wrong with us. There's those hardy bastards out there, making an effort and having a go and all we can do is criticise from the safety of the pier!" "Oh, yes, sorry..." I mumbled, feeling suitably chastened. "Mind you," said he, "they are shite..."

We played musical beds again. That sounds kinky, but it's disappointingly mundane - the moving around of people to accommodate guests in our little house, where what should be guest room is given over to yarn and paint storage and at least one computer per person.

Two nights in j's bed leaves J and I crippled and bent out of shape. No matter how much planning and cutting out of unnecessary work I do, I am always left feeling on the verge of a flare by 'residential' visits of friends and family. Little Red tried to overcome this by giving me one of her special HELLO AUNTIE GILL hugs.



Awful picture of me, but great hug.

~~~~~~~
Ring out the old, ring in the new, Ring, happy bells, across the snow: The year is going, let him go; Ring out the false, ring in the true
I always thought that was George Harrison, turns out it was Tennyson. Shows what I know.



Anyway, here we are again on New Year's Eve...

As a teacher, I have two starts to my year, September and January, and although September always has the biggest real impact, January is the one with the biggest emotional and psychological effect. The people who brought us Grumpy Old Men & Women, which I love more as I get older, were reflecting on the pressures to have a good time on New Year's Eve. I've had some good times (including one of the wildest parties our town ever saw, back in the day) and some terrible times on New Year's Eve. I found out I was pregnant with j on New Year's Eve 16 years ago, which was both the best ever and the worst - I was terribly sad that my Dad, who had died during the year, would never see my child.

Tonight we have been invited to two parties by two lovely families, but will be staying home to rest and catch up with ourselves. J and I don't seem to have had a moment to ourselves for weeks and I am so tired (and insert here all the other crappy problems that the fibro fairy brings). So, it's the sofa, the TV and hot chocolate for us.

Tomorrow I shall think about my resolutions...maybe...

I wish you all