End of Another Year

22nd December 2010

While I had a quiet moment in the choas and mayhem disguised as Christmas I thought I would pen some more thoughts and news.
I say 'pen' but sitting at the PC tapping the keys on the keyboard isn't quite the same as good old fashioned pen and paper .... does anyone use fountain pens anymore these days?..... and sitting at a writing desk, painstakingly filling Basildon Bond pages with neat writing and no crossings out. And I still remember the feeling of getting long letters through the post.  Does anyone out there feel the same about recieving a long email ? I hate reading from the PC screen because after a few moments the words dance around and shuffle about and play games with my eyes !!!  And I refuse to give in and magnify the screen .... ha ha ha
Talking of dance....  I joined the U3A in Aughton and Ormskirk and after a year of dithering over wether to join in the activitys I finally braved the Book reading group.. Except for the Woman in White I haven't liked any of the books so far but I did meet a girl ( yes I know we are all over 50 but we are still girls at heart) who invited me to the Salsa fit class. It is great fun and I have joined the tap dancing class too. I'm the one who is always a few taps behind, lol
I persuaded my husband to join the ballroom dancing classes in Burscough in September , there is only us and another couple and it's great fun, neither of us can get it all right from one week to the next and they also have Liverpool season tickets so the evening starts and ends with football talk ! I joined the salsa and Argentine Tango class at the same dance school on my own. That is fun too , I have had a few different partners since I started, but they are a great bunch and it is always a laugh, especially the  tango lunge and the salsa windmill, and I always get the giggles   I have never grown up.
The dance exercise keeps the asthma from getting worse and keeps my spirits up. I have met new and lovely people through it and it makes the daily headaches easier to cope with ( along with the help of daily pain killers of course). I don't miss work but I often wish for a job of sorts because I feel useless ... but on the plus side I have more time for walking , dancing, writing and living.
My open university course for creative writing is going well.
My son has got a job in a bank call centre, not ideal but it will do until he starts a career in an area he wants to work. He is back living at home.
 My daughter has just moved into a lovely flat in Appley bridge not far from the factory she works in. She is one of two in the HR department and is doing her HR exams as it is a role she loves doing.
 We went on a norwegian cruise in May It was so good and we were sorry that it was only a week, but we did join in with the norwegian national day celebrations which was a great experience, that we booked another cruise while we were on board and are going on a Baltic one in September (with 3 days in St Petersburg !). Looking forward to it.
We also had a break in Amsterdam in September for my birthday and my brother and sister in laws anniversary. It is the first time we have been away with them and we had a terrific time and plan to repeat a similar one next year.
We went to Portmeirian as usual for our Anniversary and just got back the day before the bad snow started. We love it there. It is our annual quiet time together before the mad season starts.

I wish you all a very Happy, healthy and loving 2011
See you next year
:)
xxx