What a year 2012 has been and in sharp contrast to 2011
where Andy and I both lost our Mums. This year has been full of vibrancy,
celebration, laughter, travel a whole lotta’ love.
Of course the big occasion was our May wedding and we
couldn’t have wished for a more beautiful day….full of friends, old and new. It meant the world to me that
Julie and Janet came from Florida. Charlotte was my bridesmaid and looked stunning and Tom gave me
away wearing his tuxedo in a very relaxed manner together with his converse sneakers. Even my second cousin Caroline came who I met for the first time in 2011.
Everyone looked lovely, happy and full of support for our wonderful occasion.
We spluttered through our heartfelt vows and as our tears subsided Andy kissed
me BEFORE he was told he could ‘kiss the bride’. Phillip Need, the
reverend was wonderful and his words of warmth and love were welcomed by all. The reception was a mass of hydrangeas and
alcohol and gave Andy an opportunity to tribute his father for his selfless
contribution to country and fatherhood over the years with such humility and
honor. The weather bestowed the best weekend of the year with brilliant sun, a
light breeze and we were left with stunning photos and perfect memories.
Of course whilst the lead up to our wedding was brewing so
was the Olympics although we did not pay to much attention to the buzz. Somehow
when July came, our wedding had passed and we suddenly became caught up in the
occasion and loved every minute. What an incredible event was put on by London
and tried as many times as we did, we could not get our hands on tickets for
the Olympic Village. We did manage to join in the festivities at the ladies
swimming marathon in Hyde Park and then later to Paralympics’ events at the
Excel Centre. We were stunned by the Opening Ceremony and were not disappointed
by the Closing Ceremony and felt almost bereft that we would unlikely share in
such an occasion of this magnitude again. We will never forget Super Saturday
with Mo Farrah, Greg Hungerford and Jennifer Ennis wins. So we went, we
participated and we even bought the t-shirts.
Our second holiday to the New Forest was nothing short of
delightful. We rented a small cottage on Kentford Farm, an abode for race
horses to holiday for a few weeks. We enjoyed the fact that we had Sophie in
tow and scoured most mornings for mushrooms although they were a little thin on
the ground other than a surprise showing of Chanterelles under the Kentford Farm
Rhododendrons. Another highlight was our last night, drinking champagne under a
full moon while several of the horses raced each other up and down the
field…..completely magical. Another lesson for Andy about his lovely wife is
her obsession to take photos and I think I drove him half mad with my requests
to stop the car the very five minutes to take a shot with my FABULOUS iPhone
camera.
And shared we have…..not only holidays but we have become
members of The Tate and enjoyed countless exhibitions on both the South Bank
and Tate Britain. We have seen a number of plays and become quite the
Shakespearians with The Winter’s Tale and Henry V, although we bought tickets
to Taming of the Shrew we somehow overlooked the date and missed it….grrrrrrrr!!! We have enjoyed some wonderful movies this year too, early on it
was Hugo and The Artist, later it was Killing Them Softly and The Life of
Pi…..so many good ones.
Andy is still going strong with Blue Zoo. The first gig of
2012 (and last)was the Underworld in Camden. It was projected to be a great gig
with several other bands supporting but alas with Blue Zoo being the last to
play, the day Sunday with the trains stopping early, the audience
was thin on the ground - it was rather a disappointment. That being said, in
attendance was a diehard fan, Angel from the Philippines who monopolized Andy
after the gig with photos and autographs. As annoying as he was this has
now transpired in to a gig in Manila and we are now going to the Philippines in
February…..Andy even packaged me in to the deal. Very exciting! This is
just one of several things in the pipeline for Blue Zoo as they have rerecorded
some tracks, and there is a potential re-release on the horizon. Neil and
Graham have opted out for now so the band has a couple of new guys working
with them in rehearsals. The keyboard player has been difficult…the first one
looked like Father Time or Dumbledore and had to go…the second is a giant and
will take up half the stage…..however, of the two the giant is the nicer person
so he will be in Manila……that’s if he can fit on the plane!
Despite the distance I have managed to stay close with the
children. Charlotte and I Skype several times a week and Tom and I chat via
Facebook or Facetime once or twice a week. They are both focused on their
lives and happy. Charlotte has Ian which keeps her feet on the ground and heart
in the clouds. She is back in school, working and enjoying her life. Tom is
focused on his music, in college and has just got in to a relationship with
Cassidy which means he has someone to share his massive heart with. I have been
lucky to have visited them twice this year and am going over again at the end
of this week and of course they were here in May. I could not handle these
breaks without the miracle of technology and realize how lucky I am. Of course
without the computers we would be absolutely lost and a major triumph for Andy
and I this year was replacing the hard drive in his MAC computer……it was not an
easy task but we worked as a team and succeeded AND if we can do that, we could
even replace an engine in a car...maybe even build an engine!!!!
Of course technology is something I have stayed on top of
over the years with my work and half way through the year my employment with
Alinean ended and I now work for them as a freelance. This has given me so much
time to enjoy my new life, my surroundings, my home, my husband, my dog and my
friends. I know I have to work more in 2013 but struggle with the thought of
leaving the home on a daily basis and have to find something that works for my
new lifestyle. I refuse to give up our lazy start to the day with biscuits and
coffee in bed, my long walks with Sophie, visiting Andy at Kenwood, my lunches,
shopping excursions , social engagement planning……etc. etc.
I am not someone that has an abundance of friends as quite
frankly, I like to enjoy the friends I have. I have had countless lunches with
Tish this year as fulfill on our plan to lunch at all of the ‘Cote’ chain in
London. Tish and I have known each other since we were fifteen. She is a
remarkable woman still dealing with the loss of her grown up son Oliver two
years ago yet finding the strength to keep going in a positive direction. We
have so much fun laughing and gossiping about our husbands, our plans for
facial surgery, exercise regimes and diets. I have also had some boozy fun with
Elaine, our last day out being spent entirely in Selfridges and bouncing
between the two restaurants and many glasses of champagne AND time for a quick
makeover in between to minimize the alcoholic flush. I have also managed to
spend time with Anita in Braintree who is like a sister, has a huge heart, a
lovely son David and surrogate parent to Sophie when we holiday. I may also
have a new friend that I met though Elaine’s step sister….Cas….chatted to her
for hours, have lots in common so by year end of 2013 I may be at my quota of
five friends…..five friends per region that it.......I have my irreplacable friends in Florida....Julie, Jill, Janet, Ruth, Chris, Kathy & Jim and my lovely Michelle and Clinton elsewhere in the USA. Regardless, Andy is the best friend I could ever
wish for so anyone else on UK soil is just to be a bonus.
The weather has been miserable and we have had an abundance
of rain after the drought at the early part of the year. Thank goodness for
comfortable wellies. Sophie refuses to go out in the garden if it’s raining yet
is impervious to the rain if we are going for a walk. She comes home sodden
with mud but jumps straight in to the shower fortunately which spares the flat
getting filthy. I love our walks and with Hampstead Health on our doorstep I
feel quite spoiled. That being said we did have a bit of drama with an attacker
on the loose who hurt several victims. An attacker that Sophie rooted out of the bushes in the Elms one
day although we were not sure it was him at the time. He was crouching down but
Sophie found him and he jumped up. Andy was nearby and with Sophie there I was
unlikely to be a victim. When he was eventually arrested we looked at his
picture online and without a doubt, it was indeed the man in the bushes……DRAMA!!!!!
One of
the down sides of the last four months has been Jacks health. He had a stroke
on which he had a remarkable recovery and after extensive rehab of six weeks
was finally home. Once he got home he got a kidney infection which set him back further
and he had to return to hospital. All of this resulted in a massive weight loss
and loss of motor function and all around confidence of his ability to take care of
himself. He is now recovering for the second time and we have been astounded at
his resilience and steady improvement. We have visited him at every opportunity
and spent some quality time where he has shared his war stories which still seem
to be very vivid for him. For Christmas
he gave each of us a Christmas card with money and he signed mine ‘Dad’….very
touching. He is a wonderful man.
So Christmas came and went.....it was quiet and I silently missed the children. I also found it difficult to shake off the tragedy of Newtown Connecticut and the loss of twenty young lives. My heart aches for these poor families and I hope that they have the strength to tell the world who their children were and drive home the need monitor weapons and mental health more carefully. I feel so lucky to have seen my children grow up and look forward to the continuance of their lives evolving and maybe eventually grandchildren.....no hurry tho'!
And today is January 31st, the last day of our special year
and I am awaiting the delivery of Henry. I love our small family and have
been toying with getting a puppy for Andy, possibly a Jack Russell. I want him
to have that experience of a new little life, vulnerable, dependant on him,
complete unconditional love….but that is hold for now….Henry is not to be
a dog this time but a vacuum cleaner…..this time!!!!
Happy New Year!
