Well … the last day of 2014 … and as the bells go tonight I will wave a sorry goodbye to this year.
For me it has been a lovely wee year, I have loved watching my wee business grow, and although at times there is still a quiet week, there are other weeks when I am very busy .. so I can’t complain about that!
My personal life has been curtailed a bit … although I have been busier, being a single woman, living on my own, my main priority has been to pay my bills .. and unexpectedly having to get a new car this this year was an added expense I could have done without! (my old one died a slow lingering death) … however.. I love my new wee hippo (and it does look like a hippo!) … and I hope we have many years of me cursing at other drivers together!
My pets are fine .. no expensive vets visits all year .. which makes a lovely change .. Brae is getting to be an old lady now .. 11 years old, has survived 3 bouts of cancer and gets cuter every year, she really is a wee darling of a dog and enjoys her “shared” ownership with my mum … as when I go to visit families or to take funerals/weddings then she goes to stay with my mum … who then stuffs her full of steak and chicken and other such like… my mum has even bought her a really big posh dog bed! I sometimes think that Brae would prefer to stay there!
Bo and Jilly (my cats) still hate each other … but they both go looking for each other … I think really they love each other .. one of those “love you but hate you” relationships. Bo still cuddles me .. and after owning Jilly for around a year and a half she does come to me now … I think she has accepted I am her food slave … and perhaps so have I!
My family are all very well .. my Mum is still an auld bugger, who makes me laugh and, sometimes, grind my teeth, but I wouldn’t have her any other way… we had a lovely family holiday in Portsoy earlier this year, catching up with relatives from up north that we hadn’t seen for a while.. and I really enjoyed it.
My lovely friends from Romania came over for a week on holiday … we had a blast .. Fort William, The Kelpies and they also enjoyed Edinburgh (sadly I had to take a funeral that day so missed most of the Edinburgh experience with them!)
WRAC Fort William was a blast .. I love spending time with my ex army buddies .. we have a certain type of humour that is hard to explain to anyone who has never served …. and my lovely, lovely friend Abby came along with her son .. and we had a hoot .. for someone who is not an ex army girly, Abby fitted right in! … so much so that she has already demanded (and so have my friends!) she comes to FW2016! … we are not having a FW reunion in 2015 due to the grand reunion which will be held in Harrogate in March … which sadly I am not able to afford to go to .. but I am off for 5 days to Benidorm with a group of other ex army girls in May … that will be a hoot and a half! … and sun … ohhhhhh I have missed not having any sun this year … although my holiday to Egypt in December 2013 with my fabulous friend Sharon was great fun … just what the doctor ordered … and we even survived the “Vatered down Wodka” … and Sharon’s dance of the 7 veils!
I have also started Slimming World … and doing very well (apart from a wee slip up over Christmas!) … I am aiming to lose 4 stone .. mainly to help my back that has been a bit of a bugger at times … even just losing nearly a stone seems to have helped it .. so I am hoping in the next few months I may stop moaning about the bliddy thing!
I have found a lot of peace in solitude this year …partly forced on me because of lack of funds to go socialising .. but partly by choice too … I like being alone .. I also like seeing my friends … but I am very comfortable and enjoy the peace I find when I come in, close my door and find the peace that allows me to think …
It has been lovely to see so many of my close friends find happiness this year … and even a few weddings and engagements amongst them that has pleased me greatly!
On the flip side I have watched some friends tear each other apart. It has not been pretty and has been sad to watch. I hope that all of them find peace and perhaps some reconciliation in the year to come.
I have seen some families who have been left in tatters after losing someone they love this year .. some very sad and very cruel deaths .. and some deaths, where in the end, it has been a blessing. All these families have handled the tragedy of death in such a brave and compassionate way, that I can only salute them.
Weddings and naming ceremonies have been fun .. great characters, great days and lots of smiles .. and next year there are many more to come .. which I know will be equally as joyful.
Me and my friend of 40 years .. Barbara Anne .. we have seen each other through relationship breakdowns, deaths, fun times and a few bottles of wine!
I have also seen my beautiful friend Barbara Anne lose both her parents within a few months of each other. I was honoured to be asked to take both their funerals and both were hard for me … I knew her parents, and they were both very lovely people. I know BA has not yet found her peace or acceptance of this … and I hope in 2015 she does.
2013 was a tough year for me .. big life changes, both professionally and personally, 2014 has been much more gentle .. and I have a feeling that 2015 is going to be great … I am not making any “resolutions” … I am already on track doing what I want to change .. but I am going to socialise a little more … I have sadly neglected some wonderful friends due lack of funds, but they have been wonderfully supportive and understood my predicament!
Happy New Year everyone … and remember, the only thing that stops you getting what you want, is you!
My very talented “wee” brother Andrew
My sister Margaret and my Mum (who was complaining I was taking too long taking the photo!)
My friend Maddi from Romania who came over for a holiday .. fabulous week with lots of laughs! We met in Spain on holiday a few years ago .. and I have visited Romania and even “Dracula’s castle” in Transylvania! .. also got to see a bear just casually walking along the side of a road!
My fabulous friend Sharon and I sampling the vatered down wodka ..
The girls of the WRAC (and Abby!) … not a sane one amongst us!
Jayne Johnson 