Last 175 words of 2025

I thought I would drop one more posting this year, even though I'm feeling a little poorly. I apologise for being away from the blogsphere for large chunks of December, but it's been a very busy time, and a tiring one. And I was good to myself, and took time for myself, and allowed myself to enjoy the festivities without getting side-tracked by anything that might feel like work. And I apologise for neglecting you, and I apologise if me saying 'anything that might feel like work' makes it sound like writing here is a chore, but I hope you understand. The year has been a long one, and my mind was concentrating on family fun and sharing the love of the season, not on finding ways to write about the highlights. And believe me - there was plenty of family fun, and there was a whole lotta love that was shared, and there were plenty of wonderful highlights. It's been a great Christmastime here, and I hope that has been true for you too.

RC 31-12-25

so much love

And now, just like that, I have finished work for the Christmas break. Time to relax, recharge, spend wonderful time with my wonderful family, and enjoy all the many festive treats and wonderments that this most beautiful time of the year can bestow upon us. In case I can't be bothered to blog again tomorrow - Merry Christmas, friends. xx

RC 23-12-25

Xmas Fri-ku 2025

Christmas time again
My heart a-glow like tinsel
and feasts to be had

Santa Claus is real
and he has so many names
I just call him love

Just a week to go
Until presents are unwrapped
and tummies are stuffed

If I was an elf
I would want a fitting name
Like Chestnut or Gift

My fave Christmas food
Has to be Christmas pudding
served with squirty cream

RC 19-12-25

The joys of working with children

I think I have another cold brewing. This is annoying because I feel like I only just got rid of the last one, but this is what happens when you have all sorts of different age groups from all sorts of areas popping into your place of work, I guess. One is exposed to any germ that is circulating anywhere in any school or workplace in Suffolk. I am chugging fruit juice like it's nectar and popping multivitamins like they're Smarties in the hope of warding off anything too debilitating.

Mathew had his school nativity today, and then tomorrow is his last day of school this year! So he is, to say the least, very excited. Especially as it's his birthday on Saturday. Even I - as a person who rarely got a huge celebration to mark the date of his arrival on Earth as a youngster - can remember the joyous feeling that arose when you realise that your birthday falls on a weekend. Sitting in a classroom on your big day just isn't the same as being at home with family and having the freedom to spend the day as you wish. And that's what he gets this year. Plus - a trip to a soft play area, a few friends around for a party, and then visits from relatives later. Bless him.

RC 18-12-25

so many special moments and memories

A week today is Christmas Eve!!!!
In the next two weeks, we have my son's birthday, our wedding anniversary, the joy of being Father Christmas by putting out presents, Christmas morning with excited children, a Christmas Day dinner with family, a Boxing Day party at Ted and Beryl's, and then a few days away in a cottage with my sisters.
Life, I feel, would find it difficult to be any better than it is right now, even if I asked it.
No wonder I'm struggling to sleep.

RC 17-12-25

reflections

Hard to believe another Mathew birthday has almost rolled around. I keep thinking back to this week 7 years ago, and trying to remember what it felt like and how my mind was whirling and swirling with a multitude of emotions, but it's hard to put myself back there, simply because I am just not the person I was then, so I can't remember thinking and feeling that way. Life really did change the second he popped out into the world, and I know without a shadow of a doubt that I am not the person I was on the morning of 20th December 2018. I'm very glad, in a way, that I was writing this blog in the build-up to that monumental event. I've never looked back and re-read my old postings, but if I ever get to the point where I really want to know how something was affecting me, I know for a fact that I can just go back and read the relevant entry on this blogsite. That almost feels like a gift that my past self left for me, (in a 'Back to the Future, Part III' kind of way), and that in turn provokes me to keep writing, and writing honestly now, because my way of paying back my past self is to act like him, and in my turn write honestly now, allowing my future self to be able to look back and reflect and remember accurately. By being open on a daily basis, I am leaving an accurate record of who I am, and so I will always be able to know who I was. And that, I think, is a pretty special thing.
Hard to explain, as I'm sure you just realised, but special.

RC 16-12-25

Blurgh

I feel very odd today. A little bit under the weather, a little depressed, a little unsure of myself. Just one of those days, I guess, not helped by a night with not much sleep, due to a Rian with a bad sniffles, and a return of my old friend insomnia. It is horrible when your young 'uns are unwell, and there's not really much you can do about it. The little fella is more snot than boy at the moment, and it's making him so unhappy. And I think that, in my efforts to console and comfort and cuddle him, I have picked up whatever lurgy he is suffering with. Schools and nurseries really are a hotbed of germs in a way that would put any bacterial warfare establishment to shame, and this latest release is a doozy. So I'm pumping myself full of Berocca, satsumas, fruit juice, echinacea and Lemsip Cold and Flu and trying very hard to see it off before it grabs me completely. Right now I have a niggly sore throat, several aching body parts and a hot forehead. Hopefully that will be it and, after a good nights sleep (please God) I'll be fighting fit and refreshed by tomorrow.

RC 15-12-25

Ten days til Xmas Eve!!

I am in trouble at home for getting Mathew too excited about the imminent festivities. Personally, I can't see that I've done anything wrong, but Philippa is upset that I've got him charging around the house like an amphetamine-fuelled elf when 'we should be keeping him calm ahead of all the excitement.' It's Christmas, for goodness sake! Aren't we supposed to be making it a special, special time for our children and showing them that life doesn't have to be as hard and horrible as the news reporters and online posters would have us believe?
I suppose she has a point, though. With nativities, school parties, visits to Father Christmas, drop-ins from relatives, a countdown chart on the wall, advent calendars and the onslaught of festive advertising on TV, he is already a little overstimulated with regards to The Big Day. Me adding my own particular brand of Yuletide overexcitement is just throwing tinsel on top of an already overdecorated tree and driving the poor little lad insane.  So I will try my best to stay calm, and hold back on spreading the cheer. But I'm still glad we watched "The Muppet Christmas Carol" together today. Marvellous, marvellous movie, and a great start to our unofficial festive film club that I have just this second decided we'll be doing every Sunday afternoon. Next week - 'The Polar Express'.

RC 13-12-25

Samey

Didn't expect to be saying this, and certainly not so soon, but I'm getting a bit fed up of the sickly taste of peanut butter cups every morning...

We did our first Christmassy weekend stuff last week and it all went well, so it's just rinse and repeat today and tomorrow and hopefully we'll see more happy families and cheerful children. The week has been a strange one. Aside from the yuletide fun and games we actually have very little to do at the moment, and I have to say it is very nice, although feeling a little weird. I'm so used to being flat-out busy that it's hard for me to switch off a bit and be paid for doing a lot less; but I'm getting used to it! I've already managed to watch a large portion of my Christmas viewing essentials, I have done ALL of my festive shopping, and I've managed to learn a couple more card tricks by watching tutorials on YouTube. And, by the way, when I say I have done ALL my festive shopping, I mean I have done ALL my festive shopping! I used to roll my eyes at people that got everything done ahead of time, claiming that I need the pressure of a deadline and the thrill of the last-minute rush before I could make any choices, but I have to say it feels great to have it all done and dusted, and my only task gift-wise now is wrapping, which I must confess I am not a fan of. But I'm determined to get ahead with that too, so I'm having all my ordered gifts delivered to work and I'm going to spend a day or two next week and just get it all done in my office.
Right - best I better get on with it. Families are imminent onsite. Go, Rory, GO!!!

RC 13-12-25

Exciting!

Mathew's Christmas list makes for very interesting reading. I know it's only the first draft, but it's as if he spent a morning watching every possible advert for toys online and then threw in everything his friends own as an afterthought.
He is being very businesslike about it, too. I fear we may have a naturally highly-skilled negotiator on our hands. He has reasoning behind every choice and he has been giving us a list of reasons why he deserves each item specifically, even though it is not us that makes these decisions, of course, it is Father Christmas...

RC 5-12-25

Huff

Well, the meeting was a bit of a non-event, in more than one way. Gavin chatted to me as if our little spat had never happened, which I must give him credit for (although the chances are he has simply forgotten about it, rather than worked through it) and I have to say the whole thing was about as much use as a record player made of cheese. We are all perfectly prepared and sorted and we don't need the owner of the company sweeping in and saving us, especially when he's only turned up a few days before things start happening. If a manager really wants to manage, shouldn't they be on hand when things are being instigated, planned and discussed; not 72 hours before it kicks off, when it's too late to have an influence in any way and all the cracks have already been ironed out? It's a bit like Father Christmas walking into the toy factory on the morning of December 23rd and going, "How are we doing with plans for making toys this year?" He'd have been more help if he'd kept himself away. Honestly, today felt about as useful as a pizza oven made of chocolate.

RC 4-12-25
2145 GMT

Stuff

We have a big meeting today to discuss final checks for the month ahead, and it will be the first time I have sat in a room with Gavin since our 'disagreement' last month. I shall enter the room with quiet trepidation, and I shall report back later on how events unfolded.
Meanwhile, I shall bore you with my musings on the current NFL season:
This is the first time in many a year that we are into December with me having not one single solitary iota of a clue about who may end up contesting the Super Bowl in February. I am as baffled by the struggles of the Chiefs as I am by the successes of my 49ers. Every time I think a team is starting to stand out as a contender, they get taken out by a weaker team. The Patriots, Bears and Broncos all sit atop their divisions without really looking like play-off teams, and franchises like the Rams and Packers have the occasional look of champions but keep somehow shooting themselves in the foot. The quality seems lower but the excitement seems higher, that would be my conclusion at this point. Uncertainty reigns and inconsistency flourishes and I for one hope it might continue.

RC 4-12-25

a worrying development

Only two days in, and the peanut butter chocolate hit after breakfast may already be causing an issue. I have a rather unpleasant pain in one of my molars, which is tingling away in the background while I'm trying to concentrate on paperwork.

RC 2-12-25

Into Yule...

I had a weird mini-panic attack today, thinking about everything that's coming up this month and worrying about messing it up for people. I suddenly seem to have responsibility over a lot of things that could be great future memories for people if I get them right, or huge disappointments if I get them wrong. My own children, other people's children, local schools who will be visiting, holidaymakers on their festive trips, my wife who deserves a relaxed, love-filled break from work. It just seems to be a big list of folk that I have influence over, when what I really want to do is just lose myself in a world of Christmas movies and indulgence and have someone else be responsible for my happiness. I suddenly feel like the grown-up when I want to do is enjoy the December magic as a child.
On a not-unrelated note, Mathew and I had a great time opening our advent calendars together this morning. Well, I had a great time, he just wanted to get to the chocolate, but for me it felt like a real moment. And I didn't manage to get a Toblerone one for myself, but I did manage to get a Reese's one that gifts me a peanut butter cup every morning and that is a very, very satisfactory substitute.

RC 1-12-25