What a Christmas! And what a New Year!! In fact, what a week in between!!! There weren’t too many sober moments in there, apart from the bits when I woke up in the mornings. I’m seriously detoxifying now, and no mistake. No more drink for this man – at least until the weekend, please…
Christmas was the usual splendiferous feast courtesty of Dew & Kerrie, who cooked up a storm and presented us with a multi-layered banquet beginning with Kerrie’s excellent goose, ham and all trimmings, and ending with Dew’s signature Tiramisu. Small wonder that we were all rendered immobile by mid-evening, and reduced to watching Xmas TV!
But that wasn’t the end of it – no! On Boxing Day, I got up and high-tailed it to Beckenham, where I managed to get myself entangled in a support call from Turkey (!!!), then on to Gatwick to pick up my dear bro who was coming to visit for a few days. Yes, on the bike – why does everyone have a problem believing that?!! 🙂
And of course I knew that any hope of detox between Christmas and New Year would be lost with Paul’s visit – and I was right. Quaffing fine Italian vintages, washed down with large quantities of Baileys and whatever else we could find with a kick, ensured that sober moments were limited to a few hours in the mornings…
Fun was had, though, and it was great to catch up with him. Even more fun driving him back to the airport on Friday, when the heavens opened and we got thoroughly drenched amid heavy traffic on the M25/M23. And to cap it all, the bike started misbehaving by the time we got to Gatwick; I suspected a water leak, but it got me home. And in the garage it stayed for the rest of the festive season. I really need to spend a bit of money on that bike…
Anyway, off up to Stuart’s for NYE, along with current belle Fiona and pals John & Gwyn (complete with rugrat Jake!), where much wine was quaffed among other things, and the New Year was celebrated in the usual state of complete and utter inebriation. Which was paid for with the usual symptoms on New Year’s Day, but you saw that coming, didn’t you?!
Drying out was the order of the day, and it actually felt a tad peculiar to wake up the following day without the after-effects of a night on the sauce. Withdrawal? What are you trying to say?! 😉
So now it’s back to work, head down, bum up, nose to the grindstone and waiting for payday to come around again. Like everyone, I overspent, but I’m sure it was worth it. The bits I remember, anyway…….
Much work to do, much success to achieve in the coming 12 months, and much fun to be had. And hopefully you’ll all be involved in that last pursuit – cheers!