A rest.....

Yes folks, I decided that Christmas would be a time of peace and goodwill and that I would take a few days out to recharge the batteries. This is almost complete and normal service will be resumed shortly, after the New year festivities are completed. I'm not a big New Year fan because I've never really understood the reason for celebrating yet another ring added to my tree so to speak., but I go along to the party and despite my best efforts at cynicism I always have a good time and a few drinks. I never seem to get completely drunk though, but that may be more down the fear of the hangover being that much greater these days. So in brief, lots of prezzies, lovely food (dates and Xmas pudding apart), loads of rest, two footie matches at the home of football, with another on Tuesday, some decent golf and an all round pleasant break.

10 things I love about Christmas....

1.) The kids faces on Christmas morning - yep, that'd be the real wonder of Christmas when they open their presents, even an increasingly cynical Teenager still gets carried away with this
2.) Christmas Morning breakfast - chilled champagne, loud music from new DVD (Live Aid), empty house apart from me and GMD, as the Grand Master and Audrey take the off to see their aunts/unlces and cousins. 2 hours of brief respite before they all descend for dinner. Bliss.
3.) Prezzies - love 'em, yep I still love getting my prezzies even if I ordered most of them on Amazon. Time to be 8 again!
4.) The locals do at the pub - a local pub for local people. Every year the Governor does this big party for all of the locals/regulars. This year was the best with around 80 people all enjoying superb food,in a great pub with a fantastic atmosphere. Grand Master and Audrey attended this year, even though they're not strictly locals and were bowled over by the whole thing.
5.) Boxing Day - generally the most relaxing day of all. Made even better this year by the offer of a free pair of tickets from Mr and Mrs Chelsea to see the Mighty Blues roll through Aston Villa to stay top of the league. The Grand Master was duly impressed. The evening spent playing games with the kids and members of the extended family was so relaxing I could have (and almost did) fallen asleep where I sat.
6.) The post Christmas golf game - The Governors idea this in order to get people out of the house for a few hours after all the celebrations. Always held at my club and always a good laugh. This year I managed to get a pass out for the evening drink at the pub for which I duly drank way too much Guinness. Almost a perfect day.
7.) The kids films - truth is I love some of the films the kids get better than the "adult" ones. This year I have been subjected to Shrek 2 (fab), Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (superb and scary), Finding Nemo (cute but fun) and the magnificent School of Rock.
8.) No driving - yesterday going to golf was the first time I've driven since last Thursday at work. Did I miss it? Did I fuck......
9.) The decorations - I don't see the point of dressing the house up like it belongs on the strip in Las Vegas, but once the trauma of buying the new lights for the tree (at £65 for the long lasting LED ones) and replacing the old knackered garlands is out of the way, then there is no doubt that the house looks more cheerful and warm when they're on. It's always a sad day when the decorations come down. And this year our tree, delivered by our new Asian corner shop owner in the village has not dropped ONE single needle. Two weeks in and it looks as fresh as the day it arrived. I know where next years will be coming from.
10. Seeing all the family - I know I'm a grumpy old bastard who likes his time and space, but when they're here you get a real sense of belonging to something. My only direct living relatives are Skank and Dave the Unknown (kids aside) as both my parents have been dead for along time, in fact I've been alive longer without them than with them and so GMD's family are my family.....and thats nice.

Later, GrocerJack