Happy New Year

What a fantastic time I’ve had.
I’m back at work now which is depressing, but necessary after the expense of Christmas. I did a 12-hour shift on the day before New Year’s Eve and I’ve never seen anything like it. It was like watching footage of Dunkirk, with shopping trolleys instead of boats, and evacuating soldiers being replaced by Special Offer ham joints. Old people love their bargains, don’t they? It was chaos with a capital “aaaaaaaaaa!!!”
But let me fill you in on Christmastime:

On Xmas Day, a nervous Hannah went off to spend the day with Nathan’s family, so Philippa and I had the morning alone. We swapped pressies, cooked our lovely Christmas brunch and fed each other sprouts like a loved-up pair of penguins. (I don’t know if penguins eat sprouts, but it’s a nice image) Then we all met up at Ted and Beryl’s in the evening. That all finished at 2am (I think it was 2am, I was so drunk it could have been April for all I know)
On Boxing Day, Nathan and Hannah joined us and we went for a walk on the beach. Some of Philippa’s nutty mates did a charity swim in the sea, so we cheered them on and put some money in the bucket. ‘The Dip’ is an annual event now, and Philippa says she and I should do it next year. I said I’d rather shove a mince pie down the end of my man-piece (I don‘t even like the sea in Summer, remember) but I said I‘ll agree to do it if Philippa agrees to have a nude wedding when we get married, so we‘ll see. We spent the evening with Philippa’s parents, which was nervy and awkward, but pleasant enough.
Sophie and Tamara arrived on the 27th and stayed til the 30th, and it was wonderful. We chatted lots, played lots of silly games, and drank lots of wine. It was magic.
My absolute Christmas highlight though, had to have been just before midnight on Christmas Eve. It was such a special occurrence that I would happily have forfeited everything else that happened over the festive period, as long as I could keep this one special moment.
We were having drinks in the bar at Philippa’s sports club, when a reminder alarm went off on her phone. She threw her arms round my neck and said “Rory - on Christmas Eve last year I was alone at home, thinking about you and wishing I could see you. Then the phone rang, and it was you, phoning to invite me out. Exactly a year ago this minute, you told me how much you liked me, and that was the start of our relationship. I wanted to remember and celebrate the anniversary, because it was the single greatest moment of my life” and she told me she loved me, and kissed me.
Best….. Kiss….. Ever…..

RC 3-1-12