Well hello there pals, how are ya? Was your Christmas full of magic sparkly goodness?
Mine was a general joy of travelling down the country (started in Sheffield, ended in Kent) to see all the lovely people, generous gifts and, of course, all the foods (including three Christmas dinners).
The only downer was my dad managing to break his foot. It was my first day off work, I’d arrived in Sheffield, was sat on the bed reading and I could already feel myself starting to unwind. I was just starting to think that my dad had been a while on his daily run when I heard the door. About ten minutes later, I heard him walking up the stairs very slowly.
“You alright?” I called out.
“Er, I think I might have just broken my foot.”
“Eh?”
He hobbled into my room and I immediately noticed the lump on his foot.
“Oh my god, is that your bone sticking the wrong way?!”
“I’m not sure. But I’m almost certain I heard something snap when I fell over.”
I cringed and curled my toes and all the other things you do when you’re in a omg say no more or I’ll vom kind of situation.
So I called a taxi to get us to the minor injuries clinic and reluctantly got dressed. My dad meanwhile, packed a rucksack with a book and snacks.
“Erm, you’re not going on holiday,” my sister pointed out.
“You’ll thank me when we’ve been sat in A&E for four hours” my dad said whilst hobbling around.
“If we’re there for four hours,” I growled, “I’ll break your other foot.”
I pride myself on my excellent bedside manner.
In fact, we were in and out the clinic in 40 minutes so, if you fancy breaking a bone kids, do so on a quiet Wednesday evening before 8pm (when the minor injuries clinic closes).
Other than that hiccup (although not entirely sure my dad would agree that snapping your metatarsal bone is a mere hiccup), Christmas was rather dandy.
G and I emerged from the Christmas bubble when we got home on the morning of the 28th and then immediately entered the Christmas-New Year limbo where you forget what day/week/month it is and lie on the sofa eating cheese and chicken&stuffing sandwiches whilst watching the selection of random films on the telly. It’s marvellous until you hit that point where your stomach starts cramping cos it can no longer handle the cheese food baby, and you realise that you haven’t done any of those household things you were going to sort whilst you had time off.
Ah well.
I’ve partially re-joined society today. By which I mean I’m dressed, I’m actually planning on leaving the house later for a civilised goodbye-and-fuck-you to 2016 and I started thinking about some things to tick off my to-do list whilst watching Bake Off re-runs.
And I’m also taking a moment to reflect on 2016 which, I think we can all agree, was weird. I’m sure I don’t need to spell out why; we’ve all stared at our televisions/laptops/phones in appalled disbelief enough times this year. Momentous political shifts aside, on a more personal level, I think my highlights would be moving to St Albans with G, taking the first step in getting more time to write, and all the new places I’ve been lucky enough to travel to including Tenerife, Budapest and Iceland.
I’m not really one for making resolutions cos, lol, I don’t need more things to add to the ‘you really should be doing this rather than watching Netflix’ list but as well as eating more veg, being better at saving money etc, I hope 2017 is full of small, happy things, plenty of adventures, the guts to make some big decisions around my working life and a hella lot of writing.
And preferably less referendums and celebrity deaths.
Here’s what I learnt in the last 365 days:
1) Sweet and salted popcorn is actually the stuff of dreams and I have been SO WRONG all this time.
2) Some friendships aren’t destined to last but that’s okay; it gives you more time to focus on the important ones anyway.
3) Going to the cinema alone is strangely therapeutic and I am big believer that this is something we should all be doing every now and again.
4) It’s important to make the little things count. Life really is horrendously short and you never know when the rug will be pulled from under your feet. Appreciate those tiny things that put a smile on your face.
5) Candles make me feel calm and happy, and generally soothe my soul. I now have a whole box of candles in my living room and I will keep adding to it. Join me in this; you won’t regret it.
6) Your twenties is a time in your life where you know people who constantly ask when you’re getting married and having kids and also know people who would think ‘when are you getting rid of it?’ was still an appropriate response to a pregnancy announcement. You know what’s nice? Drinking wine and avoiding the topic entirely.
7) Doing what makes you happy and satisfied will always be more important than getting a bigger pay cheque.
8) Sitting in a cafe really helps my writing juices flow. Particularly if they’ve nailed the optimum room temp and do good muffins.
9) You will never regret making time for people, no matter how grumpy or fed up or tired of life you feel. Making the journey may feel like a lot, but seeing your favourite people will always give you a boost you didn’t even know you needed.
10) You can’t change the big things; things like referendums and who will be president, things like terrorist attacks and wars, things like the economy and house prices. BUT. You can cast your vote, you can donate to charities helping those less fortunate and you can show kindness in all walks of life; in the hope that these small things create a world that isn’t as bad as it seems.
You were an odd’un 2016 but I’ll still make the effort to say goodbye to you. My NYE plans include a lazy bath with a Lush bathbomb and some kind of sparkly drink before glamming it up a notch and heading out for a fancy meal and too much prosecco.
Please can we all pray that my planned dress still fits after the Christmas food carnage.
See ya next year guys; thanks for reading this little blog throughout 2016 <3
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