.....christmas 2008

it's very tiring doing very little.... christmas has passed off with a resounding cheer.... lots of fun and merriment has been had and much is still to come... let me tell you my christmas story so far.....

the week before christmas was spent doing all those last minute bits but all done generally without rush and hurry. assisted by the fact that christine had it all under control. the fridge was stocked as only the fridge could be. you know it's christmas when you open the fridge door to find at least one tub of every kind of cream that is available to man! we had to import a second fridge to ensure the complete chilledness of all we had (in the main mind because the big american style fridge is on the blink again!).

christmas eve was a very relaxed affair with nothing to do other than enjoy christmas eve. the millers arrived as is now a very lovely tradition after tea time for nibbles and the annual reading of "'twas the night before christmas"..... and then luke was off to bed..... and then he was awake at 2 o'clock wondering where santa claus had moved his stocking to! no idea we said maybe the elves have taken it away to fill it.......... and off he went back to sleep....

christmas day arrived at 6 o'clock - luke's usual time for getting up! santa claus had been most genorous and had bestowed upon (me!) luke a nintendo wii!! nintendo have played a blinder with this one and they are managing to con everybody into thinking that because your child now stands infront of the tv, rather than just sitting there, and waggles there arms around, that this constitutes exercise. wake up! have a go on your wii fit for a couple of weeks and get "fit" then put your running shoes on and go out and try and run a few mile and see how far you get!! great marketing strategy though!!

we saw christine's mam at about 9 for an hour before she drove off to high wycombe to the hill family, we had lunch, watched tv, saw my mam and dad and then all fell asleep! top day! me? what did i get? i got me a flat screen tv for the kitchen! can't get to watch the news on a morning in the sitting room 'cos luke has his daily dose of top gear so now i can sit in the kitchen with news 24! happy days! i will now be able to pass comment on current affairs! super!

boxing day saw jonathan arrive so more presents, more christmas, more turkey (with chips and bubble and squeak... lovely!). he got a star wars light sabre game for the wii so more thrashing about on that took place! great fun! and then we all fell asleep... again...
sharon and ruth called over and it was lovely to see them... sharon couldn't tell us much of what she was up to as she is a secret agent working undercover to infiltrate the organisation of mr big..... i think she may be a double agent as there was a certain russian twang to her accent.... i watch spooks i know the signs.... i may have to alert the home secretary......

saturday saw more chilling and sleeping and eating of chocolate... and i went for a run! the marathon training and required weight loss starts soon.... but not before the christmas cake and chocolates have been eaten!

i was just pondering how the years of late have a certain familiar pattern to them..... i start post christmas with the running and weight loss and am trimmer and fitter by march/april for a few half marathons and now a marathon, after this comes the bike riding in preparation for the coast to coast or some other big long bike ride, then there's a period of rest over the summer, and then a flurry of running in september/october before nothing in november/december except over indulgence and a return to the weight i ended the previous year at.... and on it goes.... there's a certain comfort in this familiar pattern that i enjoy. of course things are always different... i have quite a varied little life... but this pattern is the heart beat that sounds below the changes underpinning my world...... nice.....