It’s the end of another year, a time for reflection, for resolutions and for gratitude.
What a year 2011 has been. For many a time of radical change, some good, some bad and some as yet unresolved...
In our family, my daughter has lost two of her bottom teeth; my children’s grasp of Spanish is improving every day.
My son has learned how to tie his shoelaces and has read The Hobbit. They are both taller.
I have started to come to terms with using the past tense in Spanish (even though there seem to be a hundred different verb tenses)
The global economy has been in some sort of boxing competition where the euro, the pound and the dollar have each taken a good old battering.
I’ve been keeping a (fairly) regular blog
Life has been a strange blend of thinking about life and wondering what it means to be a wife and mother and grieving daughter (my mother is in the horrible stages of dementia that robs the personality and the mind leaving a strangely resilient physical body behind) and have a sort of career at 42.
Political rant (skip two paragraphs if disinterested)
Britain has been in the throes of Tory rule again. I can only read about Conservative policies and despair as Britain seems to return to the bad old days of social deprivation and cuts that have an impact on those who are most needy. The sad thing is that we can look back on Labour government and rue what was not attempted or achieved in the golden years of opportunity.... As a determined socialist, my heart will forever sway to Labour but historical hindsight can only leave us voters bitter at the opportunities lost...where else can our political hopes lie if not with the party that is meant to represent the people?
The world seems to be undergoing a change as the Arab Spring swept the Middle East and yet so many important things are still not addressed by our governments. The environment is increasingly ignored, people are paid ludicrous amounts of money for unintelligible jobs whilst others are paid a pittance and increasingly denied any workers’ rights that have been battled for over decades.
Come back here if you're avoiding political rant!
Importantly, a new year is a chance to contemplate the contents of our drinks cabinet. I am not a big drinker, I have always been a cheap night out...so it is a bit silly for me to even look at the range of spirits available in our cupboard (most of which were gifts, or purchased for visitors..) because I will probably just briefly sup on a very very small selection.
So, husband has the champagne lined up, I fancy a nice glass of amaretto and maybe a small port, that’s probably me sorted for the night....
We are at home tonight with our kids. No visitors this year. We could have gone into Alicante for a venture into the Spanish territories of keeping the kids out late and celebrating in the streets...but our British sensibilities are more inclined to snuggle up safe and warm at home.
I am glad to in the bosom of our small family. Safe, content, warm. We have so much to be grateful for at the end of this old year, our health, our home, our children, our jobs. Our friends are far flung and spread across the globe, but they remain our friends and we love them all.
Best wishes to everyone for the New Year, may it be one filled with the simplest and best three wishes that anyone can ask for from the magic genie of the New Year: health, happiness and wealth (and a lovely selection in the drinks cabinet! – that’s four, never mind!)
Blwyddyn Newydd dda
Happy New Year
Feliz ano nuevo
