Tuesday 21 December 2010

Great quotations, ancient and modern.

“From the crooked timber of humanity nothing straight was ever made” - that was Kant.

“Men make history but not in circumstances of their choosing” - that was Marx.

"The best is the enemy of the good" - that was Voltaire.

“We will make this the best place in the world for children and [sic] young people to grow up” - that was Balls.

Tuesday 14 December 2010

Christmas newsletter

Well it’s time for our annual update on life chez nous and we hope you’re all keeping well, so...

MERRY XMAS EVERYONE, or should I say “Merry X-FactorMas” ;-)!!!!! (And here are the football results: ITV Blockbusters 20 million, Yuletide Logs nil LOL!) I just can’t believe it’s all come around so fast, and with the Easter eggs in the shops already it’s Go Go Go all the way!!!!!

But seriously we love this time of year. The pitter-patter of tiny reindeer feet, turkey and all the trimmings and snow on the way (so they say!)! And who says no one goes to church anymore? Our new vicar is really throwing himself into the spirit of things and attendances are up, what with the nightly topless carol concerts under our new Jack Vettriano-inspired nativity ceiling: OK, it’s not the Sistine Chapel but we like it, and that’s good enough for us - and I’m sure it’s good enough for Jack too, which is even more important after his Desert Island Discs fiasco ;-D!! So what’s Santa bringing you then?

It’s been a funny old year. On the plus side, Charlotte’s pregnant again and it beats me how she does it quite frankly. More of a bummer is that I only went and got diagnosed as having Chlamydia, didn’t I? :-( Sometimes I really wonder what the world’s coming to: I mean, you can’t even trust your own kids these days ;-P. But that aside we mustn’t grumble and are soldiering on.

Despite slipping on ice and breaking his leg in two places at about the 14km mark, Barry came a very creditable fourth in the school marathon last week, narrowly missing out on a medal position and anyway the first three were all Kenyans, which I thought was a bit odd at the time but didn’t want to make a fuss. I don’t know where that boy gets it from!

Georgie is still on her travels before going to Uni. Doesn’t time fly: she’ll have been gone twelve years on 7th January but it doesn’t seem a day since she left! She reports that the bungee jumping Down Under is definately not to be missed (do they ever do anything else down there, I ask?! Sure as hell can’t play cricket ;-D – mind you, as you may have read in the papers, she and a friend were arrested for jumping off ... the Sydney Harbour Bridge no less! Georgie got fingered by the good cop (fnaaar fnaaar lol, I said “LOL”!!!) and got away with a suspended sentence but her mate was less fortunate and ... wait for it! ... went inside for a long stretch!LOYAL ORANGE LODGE!!!!!!

Back here on planet Earth, work’s looking up at last, which is the only direction you can look if you’re flat on the floor already ;-(. Still, “if you can keep your head while all around are losing theirs” and all that! Fortunately in these tough times I have a caring employer and we’ve all been told to make sure that we take regular breaks away from the computer so I recently started going home in the evenings, which lets me snatch a bit of time for family bonding and even some to write this to you all! Word has it that we’ll get even more time at home in the near future! What’s that? “More kids on the way?” you ask? You cheeky bugger: slap for that man please! Speaking of futures, I remember my Uncle Podger telling me again and again when I was a kid that the future was in banking, but did I listen??? Ho hum!

Can’t complain though: the house is looking a treat with the decorations up and blinking for all the world to see (SSHHHH!!: no planning permission – WHOOPS!!!:-0 and we’re all as snug as a bug in a rug and waiting for the snow!

Do leave the turkey on a low grill or whatever and pop in for some jingle bells and egg nog on Christmas morning! We’d love to catch up with you and yours LoL! Know what I mean? Well DO. YOU. KNOW. WHAT. I. MEAN??? lol LOL!!!!!

... etc. etc. etc.