Hogmanay 2016

Gone is another tough year in what seems like an endless parade of tough years. Perhaps 2017 will be better (remembers Trump and Brexit), perhaps not.

Before Rabbie Burns wrote "Auld Lang Syne", before it became the go-to song to sing as Hogmanay made way for the new year there was this -

The Parting Glass is still widely sung in Ireland apparently, or at least in this video it is. That's Celtic culture, though, it wavers between the two countries and for as long as we in Scotland are befuddled by what is our history and what is not then it remains Irelands to claim.

Despite the daft dresses and the obligatory appearance of bagpipes, it is a beautiful song.

Of all the money that e'er I spent 
I've spent it in good company 
And all the harm that ever I did 
Alas it was to none but me 
And all I've done for want of wit 
To memory now I can't recall 
So fill to me the parting glass 
Good night and joy be with you all 

If I had money enough to spend 
And leisure to sit awhile
There is a fair maid in the town 
That sorely has my heart beguiled 
Her rosy cheeks and ruby lips 
I own she has my heart enthralled 
So fill to me the parting glass 
Good night and joy be with you all 

Oh, all the comrades that e'er I had 
They're sorry for my going away 
And all the sweethearts that e'er I had 
They'd wish me one more day to stay 
But since it falls unto my lot 
That I should rise and you should not 
I'll gently rise and softly call 
Good night and joy be with you all

Good night and joy be with us all in 2017, we desperately need it.

True This

Meryl Streep, telling it like it is - should realise this truth earlier and save lots of time.

Maybe this should be my mantra for 2016 because, with just over an hour to go, I'm feeling distinctly meh about the whole New Year thing.  I'm thinking Hogmanay is for the young (who can go out on the randan with friends) or for those with big family or friendly neighbours who can fill the house with the party spirit.  It doesn't happen much now but there isn't much point sitting by yourself waiting on the bells when nothing really changes, it's just another day tomorrow.

Like I said, feeling meh.

I'm waiting for a good year, I've been waiting an awfully long time and no matter how hard I work at it I never quite seem to have a satisfactory sigh in my heart at this point of the year.  

The end of this year has been plagued with illnesses and I simply can't concentrate for more than five minutes on anything.  I shall remedy it, there is only me who can do this. 

2016 can be the year of acceptance...

meh

Well we're here again...

Reboot

So at midnight tonight we get to put the clocks forward a year.  Tomorrow won't really be any different from today but it will *feel* different and that's the point.
Who says they don't believe in psychology obviously doesn't make any resolutions - to be broken within the first week - it's tradition!  Even those who promise not to play resolution roulette (which one will it land on? Congratulations, you got "Lose Weight" *audible groan*)  I know I do.

And We're Off...

...2013 has begun, we're already running to catch up!

Crikey!

Enough with the exclamation marks before I use up my quota for the year.  Two days in, it hasn't been an auspicious start but then again this is January, not the best of months for happy thoughts.

Wish it would bloody snow though.  Poor Eldest has been holding out for snow over the past few weeks and apart from a brief dalliance there has been nothing but rain.  2012 was the wettest year ever - 2013, who knows!

This can be a boring post to start with as I'm sure something will get me going before too long.

And with that...the end...

Day 30: Last movie you watched

I had thought this list would stand out as not being run of the mill and mediocre but as it is it does seem as though the impression made is that I am a shallow film type of person.  It depends on the mood, and whether or not I remembered the right film for the right reason.

Anyway, as the last day of the year that started so well but dipped then crashed in the latter part ticks ever closer the last movie I watched is going to be split in two as I recently watched a dvd with the Hobbits but also went to the increasingly bankruptingly expensive cinema.  (It's a word if I say it is!)

So to the cinema for the latest piece of fluffy fun, because I really, really do need it.

Yes it was silly but one of our cats is suspiciously close in looks to Puss and I've had a crush on Antonio Banderas since seeing Tie Me Up, Tie Me Down at a very impressionable age!  Plus the Hobbits have enjoyed all the Shrek films (but not to the point of wanting the dvds, hmmn...)

And our latest offering from Lovefilm (which is a hit and miss at the best of times and may be cut during the new year cull) was the brilliant Super 8.  The Hobbits also saw E.T. for the first time this week and one of the first things Youngest said was "this is like Super 8."  What can I say, if you are of a certain vintage, grew up on Speilberg films, always wanted to have adventures that seemed to only happen in America and like that little creature feature uncertainty of whether or not you should be scared then this is a definite.

(I also got Captain America and X Men: First Class which I also enjoyed but this I watched twice before sending them back!)

And with that, we're done.  With the list and the year.  Tomorrow I intend to stay indoors hiding from the last day to ensure nothing else is going to happen!  The start of 2012 is not shaping up well at all so helmets and protective gear on...the monster is about to be unleashed.

First Foot

First post of the new decade, the last one was a bit of a roller coaster ride and not exactly enthralling for optimists.  In fact if anyone got out of the past 10 years without once feeling a touch of depression about the state of things then bravo.

Time marches on and to be honest we are the only animals to mark it (which is conjuring up images of peeing on things but nevermind I know what I mean.)

The snow and ice are lying thick on the ground, untouched by plough or tractory beast from the council.  The next 10 years will pass and so on and so on.

Another End Of Year

For the first time in I don't know how long I expect to see in 2009 safely tucked up in bed.

The cold has gone, for the most part, but there doesn't seem to be a reason to stay up. Another Hogmanay spent alone and in front of the tv? Second year in a row, it is becoming a habit.

2008 was interesting, an improvement on 2007 which I realise now is a year that held more benefits than at first it seemed. Whatever 2009 brings I can ask for only one thing at the moment, that my father, who is in hospital at the moment, recovers. There are some things I do not wish to contemplate and one of them is what seems inevitable but no matter how much I wish it wasn't the truth I still cannot face it.

Come on 2009, lets see what you bring.

Running With The Buffalo

As the minutes tick by I ignore my sad and pathetic lack of Hogmanay festivities and ponder this...don't mess with the buffalo, especially if they have family.

Four Hours Fifteen Minutes Left

Here is to 2008 and may it bring better times.

To end this sorry excuse of a year we celebrated the Hobbits turning 6 on Saturday. Good times: I spent the previous night filling their beds with balloons saying "6 Today!" while they slept ("And I didn't even wake up, when did you do that mummy?" They ask incredulously the next morning.) I put silver Happy Birthday banners in the kitchen as ours was to be a morning celebration. (Note, DO NOT buy Doctor Who Tardis birthday cakes - it tastes rank and you just have to end up making one of your own.)

Then a trip to Dynamic Earth followed by the cinema with their father and his gf. See, I called his bluff, reminded him that despite his ego it wasn't a day for his hysteria and pathetic points-scoring but for the Hobbits. I have realised that he has a script he has to attend to before becoming reasonable and accepting ideas. My idea of him taking the boys on Saturday evening had to go through the whole set-up before he got to the point where he came to his senses.

Regardless the Hobbits had a wonderful time which is what it is about. Job done.

I don't know what this next year will bring. I know that I am going to do what I want and not what others expect of me. My priorities are the Hobbits, my depleted family and building us up to a stronger point. To do that I know I will upset others but sod it, I've spent so long trying to please everyone and do what they want and look where it got me.

This year is about us.

And A Happy New Year

Yeah, yeah, so I am early. Allow me the novelty of being too early instead of too late for once.

So, 2006, an interesting year but here is hoping that 2007 brings more with it, and good things only please.

When I was younger, and I mean Primary age, my dad and I would walk to the end of our street, wait for the bells in the local church (which was a good mile and a half away at least) to ring and then be 'first footers' for my mum. Instead of the lump of coal we were meant to put on the fire we would give her a box of chocs, well, we had a gas fire, mum would have been livid if we starting throwing great chunks of coal at it.

I loved that experience of being out in the cold night air, holding my dad's hand, more than anything and the memory is saddened knowing I will never get it back. My dad is getting on a bit, I mean he was 50 when I was born and I just turned 35 so you do the math.

The last good Hogmanay I had was the Millenium, which seemed to suck for so many other people. Husband and I drove up to the Kilsyth hills and watched the fireworks from Glasgow, across the central belt of Scotland to Edinburgh. It was a wonderfully clear night and I even saw a shooting star (yes, the wish was fulfilled.)

I can't remember what we did the next year but the year after that we celebrated in hospital with our new born baby boys and a group of other parents, and a grumpy nurse telling us not to wake the others. FFS we all had newborns, who was sleeping?

Hogmanay with little ones is somewhat subdued, apart from the revellers who go to parties to see in the New Year through beer-goggles does anyone actually celebrate it properly?