IT WAS A VERY GOOD YEAR...

Lovely to have had a (dysfunctional and often short-tempered) Christmas, and really the best to have so many of our friends from Shaftesbury for drinks yesterday morning.
Finally grabbed some time to take Apricot for a proper walk. Fresh air - no one interfering or criticising - bliss!
Returned to find my father in the cellar about to reset the boiler... obviously should have given him a tricky new piece of software or difficult puzzle to occupy his mind.
Last night, I was sadly too stupidly exhausted to cope with watching Hamlet - and stupefied by the germ-laden tropical heat that my dear parents feel is mandatory for existence. OK - they are quite elderly; but still...
I loathe central heating, except in the very coldest weather. Bad for one on every possible level , makes me even more bad-tempered than usual and just appalled that people feel it's their God-given right to be warm in a T-shirt in midwinter.
So instead, while doing some nice relaxing cooking - roasted butternut and sweet potato soup + blue cheese biscuits - to leave for parents. I indulged in light relief on Facebook, doing the 2009 Status Collage. Brilliant. Especially thoughtful of the App-Meisters to have a nice blue template option for me.
It really was an exciting year - once the persistent after-effects of pleurisy and viral tracheitis finally left me - and this "high-level" (software-speak) reminiscence triggered many more memories.
2 local election campaigns - as candidate for the first time. The best fun! Even won the second one.
Who'd have thought I'd end this year as a Local Councillor?

I'd forgotten that I'd been so tempted to deliberately deliver campaign letters to the wrong addresses in certain streets, to get people to talk to each other.
I'd forgotten the frantic fortnight before we started Job Club.
I'd forgotten that I only discovered NCIS this year. (Typical - I only discovered MASH in 2002)
I'd forgotten just how cross & frustrated I was about Total Place.
I'd forgotten that I taught a brand new flautist - she now plays in our Church band.
I'd forgotten people's individual concerns that I'd been able to help with.
The single best thing about having a "profile", is having the platform to make a difference.
I am so thankful, both in this community and beyond, to be involved with so many interesting and (hopefully) worthwhile causes and projects.
I felt helplessness in the face of friends' illnesses - & respect for the devotion of caring families.

I so appreciate my wonderful friends - old and new. Especially those who know me well enough to be honest with me...
I was moved beyond belief by the things people said and wrote about me during the Cambridge selection process.
I learned what it was like to be ridiculed online - and found that I didn't really mind at all!

And so much best of all - should have been top of this list - long-delayed spiritual renewal.

My hopes for 2010 - still thinking about it... apart from practical stuff like making my office more functional and more comfortable. More like an office in fact. I'll do it on New Year's Eve.
And (please God - please) playing some golf!
One thing is certain; it will be mid-March before we know it, and I will have had yet another ski-less Winter. With my skiable years dwindling fast.
I could book a week now - and am seriously tempted. But we all know why I won't be doing that, don't we? Tory Girls and Boys!!