I have no idea why, at new year, Quentins are so vilified; why must we forget them? I confess that with the exception of that semi-well-known uncle of three of the Famous Five (father of the fourth, the fifth.....well, it's a dog!) I know none, but asides from locking himself regularly in his study I do not see this limited evidence as sufficient to cast him from my mind as the Big Ben bongs bong (is it me or does that sound like the stage name for a Chinese wrestler?). Anyway, Quentins - uncle and otherwise - aside; here we are in 2013, and life is slowly getting back to.....well......as normal as it can for me!
On reflection this has been one of the best Christmasses; and of my adult life, probably THE best. Whatever we did this year, I would be more than happy for a repeat performance in future years. I think the aforementioned success is down to a number of reasons. From a practical perspective we managed to crack on with the Christmas preparations - decorations, food shopping, present buying and wrapping etc - good and early. It did create a few mad days early on, but the loss of pressure to get them done as December 25th loomed large on the horizon was palpable. It created free time for us all to decompress, just being; being together, being lazy, being relaxed. In previous years we were either running round the house doing last minute 'stuff', or sat down with ants in our pants worrying about all the stuff we still had to do; the definitive recipe for war on earth. This year we gave peace a chance. Thank heavens!
I think Christmas was so much more special for me this year because as well as the usual light-hearted frivolity; it also served as a blessed escape of tradition from the heavy life changes of the last few months. For a week and a half I could forget about commuting to Stevenage, the hotelling, the new job; I could even forget a little about the marathon. It felt nice to just 'park it' for a while and enjoy the comfort of a coal fire, a Christmas tree, Christmas stockings, Christmas morning bacon butties and bucks fizz, presents given and received, turkey and bread sauce (don't get me started on that one); basically, in short.....fun! Presents were excellent too; no surprises for guessing that mine consisted mainly of clothes (the previous wardrobe was making me look more and more like the boy from the closing scenes of 'Big'!); lots of designer labels......and no, I don't mean 'George at Asda' and 'Gladys at Primark'.
Post Christmas was nice and quiet too, with the exception of a rather raucous party celebrating the fiftieth birthday of the chairman of our badminton club (not mentioning any names........Chris McManus) resulting in an extremely late night/early morning a few days before new years (one point of note was someone who had not seen me for a year not recognising the new, four stone lighter me....smug smile smug smile smug smile). Then came new years eve.....
I've had some good new year nights (glass of sherry with the family, sat snuggled with my girlfriend so much that we missed midnight) and I've had some great new year evenings (lovely roast chicken followed by sharing midnight with my best friend, Billy Crystal (just to make it clear, Billy Crystal is not my best friend, not so much as a passing acquaintance) and Meg Ryan.....got you curious now ain't?!!). I know a lot of people who 'don't like new year's eve'; not sure why; are they scared of the year to come? For me, I enjoy it. I am always encouraged by the hope that - after a tough year - things might get better, or by the hope that - after a good year - things will continue on the up; I guess that's just me thinking positive again eh? This year however, the feeling has been amplified somehow; I found myself looking back on what has been an amazing year of achievement for me, while at the same time bolstered, excited, and hopeful that the greatest accomplishments may well be yet to come. Okay; this time next year I could be out of a job, nineteen and a half stone, and nursing the injury that saw this whole dream fall apart, but I truly hope that I can be enjoying the 2013/14 transition with a glass of sherry in my hand, stable and secure career behind and ahead of me, fourteen stone something-ish, and staring at my collection of medals......the Great Manchester Run 2012, the Great North Run 2012, and the London Marathon, 2013.
So whatever your resolution may be my friends; whatever you are hoping for, whatever you are striving for, be with me in truthfully and with conviction saying these words......
"2013.....this will be my year."
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