Christmas

Written Dec 25, 2022, tagged under post

Notice the date? Yes, that'll be Christmas.

We started the day at home, with the kids opening their presents. Then once we'd had a nibble for breakfast, we dived in the car and headed over to near Cambridge to visit Ellie's parents.

Courtesy of Marks and Spencer, Christmas lunch came out of a number of large boxes, via the oven and onto our plates. We had substantially over-catered, so there was plenty to go round (I had at least two main courses). A couple of hours later and we were attempting to demolish some desserts too. All of this was punctuated by mince pies and Christmas cake. I'm not sure I'll be able to look a plate of food square in the eye for a few days.

My in-laws have carers who come in to help keep things running. They are amazing people, with a unique combination of intelligence, compassion and humour. Having them there made the day go all the more smoothly.

Finally, after some emergency IT support (getting Kindle and Audible to play ball on a Windows laptop), we headed back in the car for the journey home. The journey was as straightforward heading back as it was going in the morning; basically, it was speed-limit all the way, taking just over an hour in each direction.

Reviewing how the day went, the kids were fantastic. They were considerate and thoughtful, and I was proud of them. Given the circumstances of the last few weeks, this took real effort, which didn't go un-noticed.

Taking a step back, life has veered pretty far from normality. Eating, sleep, regular activities and exercise are all over the place. Unfortunately this isn't just a Christmas thing, either. So here's a quick reminder for my inner psyche as to what life might preferably feature... Food: sticking to "real food" and avoiding the hyper-palatable stuff I'm currently living off. Sleep: aiming for 8 hours a night between say 10:30pm and 6:30am. Activities: some daily meditation wouldn't be a bad thing. Exercise: weights a few times a week, and some running.

Ok, psyche: get on it.

Photo by Matt Seymour on Unsplash