Sorry for the delay

Apologies, I have been re-miss and haven't blogged for a couple of days, please bear with me I I'm a little run down and tired.

Well, kind of blogged a bit drunk on Xmas Eve, I think. My memory is a bit hazy on that point, I was enjoying the festive spirit at that point to its fullest. So apologies to those of you who missed me and for the length of this post.

An admission before we start, I fuckin love Xmas, always have, always will. Had a nightmare last year, my now ex messed with my head and heart all through December, made it a horrible time. So this year I was going to have a nice chilled out Xmas, and that's exactly what I got.

Not much money floating around in my life at the moment. So I have to be careful about where I spend it, which was down the pub and on presents for the 'rents and for my friends.

So I went out for a few drinks Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Saw old friends, like you do, at this time of year. Normally love to catch up, but this year with all my money and job problems, I kind of switch the conversations to what other people are doing rather than me. Still, telling people you've failed over the last year or two in a big way is a poor way to start a vacuous conversation. But I had a really good time. Got very drunk on both Friday and Saturday which might be the reason I woke up with a bit of a sore throat on Sunday.

Yes folks, Vince caught man flu at Xmas. Not much of a cold but it managed to rob me of all my energy over Xmas. Bugger it all.

Christmas Eve was a bit of a damp squib. It used to be the best day of the year, all your old friends home for the holidays, but these days most of my friends are married or live away. So its a more laid back these days. But it's a bit dull

Woke up late Xmas morning, nice and late, a bit of a sore throat courtesy of my cold. There is nothing finer than not having to worry about anything on Xmas morning, its great. Not having to be nice first thing in the morning is ace. So I collected my things, got the dog and went to The Artist's house. Since his wife moved out last August and my ex broke my heart in March, we've been each other main support ever since. So it was to his house that I strolled with my dog, his beer I drank and his mince pies I ate. Then we took the dogs out and walked for an hour or so and there was no mention of his ex or mine. Job done for both of us.

So I arrived at the parents house, had a wonderful lunch. I'll just take the time to fill you in on what we had, if you don't mind, and I like to think back on a fantastic meal. So we had a cockerel or capon instead of the usual bland turkey. It was divine. Succulent and tasty. Along with buttered mashed potatoes, a carrot and swede mix, mushy sprouts. Add to that roast parsnips, tasty little sausages and spicy stuffing. It was perfect. Followed by Lemon posset and then Lemon and Orange Cheesecake. After all that I could hear the armchair was calling.

So we retired to the living room, did the presents thing. Handed over the usual books, DVD's and this year another food hamper. All were accepted with glee. My presents, cologne, razor and books. Apparently my family thinks I smell, look scruffy and need to improve my mind. I proceeded to insert one of the old man's DVD's and watch him and my mum laugh the afternoon away watching an old 70's sitcom.

Now I told you I'd caught a cold, and you might remember I don't get man flu, this one had robbed me of all my energy. So I snoozed through most of Xmas afternoon. Left the rents around 7ish, headed home with Bo and his smart new collar. Got a call on my way home, asking if we were heading out for a Xmas drink. Luckily, all but one pub was closed and I didn't really have the energy for anything, so I had an early night.

US boys have a tradition, every Boxing Day we do a treasure hunt. Sounds a bit lame but its a a real laugh. Imagine four guys stuck in a car, glad to be out and about, having a laugh and not taking life too seriously. Basically, we get to be 14 for a few hours on 26th December. What happens is that a local pub sets a treasure hunt. So dozens of us load ourselves into cars and follow the clues around a 20 odd mile route and then retire to the aforementioned pub. Good fun, normally. This year was a little different.

Do any of you have friends that annoy you. Well mine, we'll call him The Railway Fanatic (cos he likes trains, not the semi-cool steam ones, but the dull as dishwater diesel trains), took his turn driving. We had two, count them two, near fatal near misses that he adamantly denied were anything to do with his driving. Funnily enough, we all agreed later in the pub, when he was out of earshot, that both were his fault. Add to that he was erratic behind the wheel, annoyingly cantankerous for the four hours we were together and basically made me want to beat him with a blunt instrument until he stopped twitching about 15mins into the hunt.

Oh man this guy just bugs the arse off me most of the time. Before now I've spent months just not talking to him. I also know how to piss him off and I can torment him when he pisses me off. So being stuck in a car driven by him when he's being his most annoying was a real tester. Maybe I am growing up a little then. So the treasure hunt this year was a bit of a wash out. The Artist also caught my cold, so now he's ill and has no energy and is blaming me.

So please forgive me if I haven't blogged for a few days, it should take you some time to read this anyway. Back to normal from tomorrow, no more shitty food, yup that means I'm back on the diet. The gym opens January 5th and my back is much better. So bring it on (as they say in those annoying adverts).

Plus there's New years Eve on the horizon, so plenty to look forward to.

Hope your well and had happy holiday breaks.


later