Highs, byes and steak pies
What day is it?! At time of writing, I’m knee deep in Twixmas: the no-man’s-land between Christmas and the new year! With two whole weeks of annual leave, I’m quickly sliding into the zone of not knowing what day it is; that routine of eating, drinking and watching terrible TV. At last check it was Monday, actually Tuesday… turns out it’s Friday. Erm, happy new year!
With a few days left before I return back to some sort of normality, that feeling of knowing your alarms are all switched off is a good one. The gym can also wait another week. This is all about me time, for resting, relaxing and recharging! With annual leave still on my side, I blow off the cobwebs and get writing. Subject matter: about 800 words on nothing in particular…
A roller coaster of a year
As part of that R&R&R, I’ve watched a lot of films these holidays. There’s constantly been something on in the background. From finally watching It’s a Wonderful Life (which still holds strong), to other more familiar titles including Home Alone; Scrooged, Ghostbusters 2; The Wedding Singer and Godzilla x Kong (avoid that last one at all costs), the time off has definitely allowed me – alongside the films - to look back and reflect on quite an eventful year:
Highs – From a professional point of view, it was another busy one! Vidett highlights included hosting 250 guests at our Risk Transfer Conference at the National Football Museum in Manchester, and scooping up a few awards too from Professional Pensions and the PMI too – hurrah!
Lows – Losing my good friend Ray of 20+ years earlier this week was something I still don’t think has hit me fully. He wasn’t your typical mid-seventy-year-old. A colourful character with a passion for having a good time. Always sharply dressed, he was a real gentleman with a cheeky sense of humour. He loved a good Steak pie, so I’d always grab him a few whenever we travelled back from ‘oop north’. We shared many funny moments together; sharing one last cuppa and jokes at the hospital before Christmas.
No one knows – Me and my long-standing missus finally got hitched in Las Vegas, secretly hidden within some joint 40th celebrations with friends in Sin City. With the Little White Chapel on our doorstep… there was really ever one place we were going to do it! I do, we did, and so did they! A double wedding celebration with a pink stretch hummer limo, neon signs, roulette tables, karaoke, cocktails and chaos all thrown in for good measure. She now has a ring on her finger, but is still awaiting that medal!
How am I doing? Wordcount roughly over halfway! What else happened? Oh lordy, one of the furballs went walkies…
A missing cat’s tail
Continuing the subject of nothing in particular, one of the furrier members of our family: Peanut (PP to his mates) was last seen on Friday night, standing on my back as I tried to sleep; the cat flap went a flapping as said cat left the flat. The next morning, he was nowhere to be seen? I checked his usual spots: the top of the clothes bin next to the radiator; the sofa; in the wardrobe with the socks; the spare bed - negative on all counts. “He’ll be back,” I thought/hoped, as we set out to see the family for the day. Cue six hours later, when we burst through the door and all spots remained empty. Things were starting to get squeaky.
Now missing for a whole 24 hours, we’d sent pictures of our troublesome tabby to the lost cat groups online to share, before hitting the streets with torches, hoping to see him hiding. With 48 hours passed and no signs of a return, we stepped it up a gear and got some flyers designed and printed, before posting them through 200 different front doors nearby. I have a new found respect for postmen, having only had about four dogs try to eat me on my travels. WOOF!
With a whole weekend passing, we went to bed Monday with our positivity starting to fade. As we hit the Z’s, our dozy states were broken by the cat flap at 03:30 Tuesday morning; quickly followed by the wailing of a completely drenched, slightly panicked and skinner looking soggy moggy. Balance was restored with PP’s safe return approximately 75 hours later. I guess we’ll never actually know what happened over those last three days, but with all things considered, it was a welcome finale to one eventful twenty-twenty-four.
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