So that was Xmas....

And it was very nice indeed. Mum and Dad left this morning, seems a good chance to review the fortnight and look ahead.

I would be as bold as to say, this is one of the nicest Chritsmasses I have had in my adult life, certainly for me and Hel I would say THE best. Everything just seemed to work, and of course, it was a real pleasure to have such good company; not just Mum and Dad either, but Barry and Jo made an appearance or two aswell. Oh, and we got snow the day after boxing day - the picture above doesn't do it justice, taken early on it shows our house before we had several inches fall.

The culinary experimentations were a success!! I made a couple of cakes that I was very proud of, and Hel's cooking was as usual very good indeed. Not a single present was opened that wasn't brilliant - so thanks everyone. It really was one of those magical xmas', the ones that go past in a blur and you remember for years.

There were of course a couple of down sides, Greb was ill for most of boxing day and had to retire to bed, similarly Mum was a touch ill. Nan too was unable to make it - she gets frailer every day.

The run upto to christmas was full of games and music and watching the BBC's classic 70's ghost stories. Horror strangely seemed to be a strong feature of the season - with Carpenter's The Thing entertaining us on Christams Eve!

So, 2006 - lots of things will be different. They have to be. 2005 was bad, in every regard and I will simply not allow 2006 to be the same. The last couple of weeks have had me thinking about where I'm going with life, they've had me thinking about who I am and what I want. I wasn't in control of last year - who was? But this year, I want to be making decisions, not floating along, not waiting for things to happen to me.

When I look ahead to Xmas '06, I have no idea what it will be like, and that, is exciting for me.